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LIBRARY 

OP 

EELIGIOUS BIOGEAPHY. 

EDITED BY 

EDWARD HEALY THOMPSON, 



VOLUME V. 
THE VENERABLE ANNA MARLi TAIGL 



WWllTT^^ 




AWFA MAMIA TAI^I. 
1769 = 1837. 



THE LIFE 



OF THE 



AMA MAMA TAIGI, 



(1^69—1837.) 



EDITED BY 

EDWAED HEALY THOMPSON, M, A. 

{With Portrait,) 



NEW YORK: 
Published by Fr. Pustet, 52 Barclay Street. 

CINCINNATI, OHIO: 
Fr. Pustet, 204 Vine Street. 

LONDON, ENGLAND: 
Burns, Oates & Co. 










Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by 

ER^IX STEIXBACK, 

In the OfSce of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



^ - v3 ^j 



ADVEETISEMENT. 



The only biography of Anna Maria Taigi which has 
hitherto existed in English is a translation of a work 
by Mgr. Luquet, the Bishop of Hesebon. This work, 
written more than twenty years ago, labours nnder a 
twofold disadvantage. In the first place, it is incom- 
plete, especially in regard to this holy woman's spiritual 
gifts j a defect, however, for which the estimable pre- 
late was in no way responsible. Great reserve was im- 
posed upon him with reference to this subject, as ap- 
pOc . 3 from his own statement ; and in particular he was 
not permitted to give any account of the extraordinary 
fa'v ur by which she was so pre-eminently distinguished 

le vision of a luminous orb, or sun, which she be- 
held for forty-seven years, and in which she saw things 
past, present, and to come. He was therefore obliged 
to content himself with saying that the supreme re- 
spect v/hich he justly entertained for the Sacred Con- 
gregation of Eites, and the commands of the Sovereign 
Pontiff, prevented him from describing the nature and 
the greatness of a gift which would fill the faithful 
with astonishment. 

But his work is not only incomplete. It is in many 



VI ADVERTISEMENT. 

respects inaccurate, and unfortunately in one very im- 
portant point, as he himself afterwards regretfully ac- 
knowledged : indeed, had it been possible, he would 
have withdrawn the book from circulation. As allu- 
sion is made to the subject of this inadvertence on more 
than one occasion in the course of the following narra- 
tive, it will be sufficient here to observe that Mgr. 
Luquet composed his work under circumstances un- 
favourable to the exercise of due discrimination; for, 
although he had access to a large collection of miscel- 
laneous documents, he had nothing to guide him in the 
matter of selection, but was left to his own unaided 
estimate of the apparent evidence on which they rested. 
He does not seem to have submitted his book to any 
supervision in Eome ; the Italian Life which bore his 
name having been translated from his own original 
work. 

Several Lives have since appeared ; notably that of 
P. Bouffier and, later, that of P. Calixte, both of which 
are free from the two objections which lie against Mgr. 
Luquet's publication, having been written subsequently 
to the introduction of the cause of the Venerable Ser- 
vant of God, and with the advantage of reference to 
published extracts from the processes. The latter Life, 
in particular, is considered at Eome to be the fullest 
and most correct of any which had then appeared. 
Both of these biographies have been consulted in the 
composition of the present volume, as well as an Italian 
Life by P. Pilippo Balzofiore, which, though short, is 
comprehensive and very accurate; but the materials 



ADVERTISEMENT. VU 

have principally been derived from the Analeda Juris 
Pontificii^ in "which there have appeared at intervals 
considerable extracts from some of the most important 
depositions given in the processes. 

For details regarding the interment, or, rather, in- 
terments, of the Servant God, for on two occasions the 
body vras removed from its place of sepulture, and the 
state of preservation in which her remains were found 
at the end of eighteen, twenty -eight, and thirty-one 
years respectively, reference has been made to a docu- 
nuent obtained, through the kindness of a friend, from 
the Postulator of the cause. 

Anna Maria delivered numerous and important 
prophecies concerning things still future. In conse- 
quence of the remarkable way in which all her predic- 
tions have been fulfdled which related to what has now 
become a portion of the past, great interest has natur- 
ally been felt regarding them — an interest every day 
enhanced by the crisis through which the Church and 
the Holy See are at present passing. These predictions 
are still reserved under the seals of the Sacred Congre- 
gation of Eites ; nevertheless, a few have transpired 
through communications made by persons who during 
the life of the Servant of God had the opportunity of ' 
becoming acquainted with them, and chiefly by Mon- 
signore ^N'atali, the priest who was appointed to receive 
her revelations. Whatever can be traced to this pre- 
late with certainty may with safety be attributed to 
her, but he used great reserve and discretion in his 
confidences. We have been at some pains personally 



Vlll ADVERTISEMENT. 

to ascertain what thus might or might not be confi- 
dently put forward as a genuine utterance of Anna 
Maria, and have made the separation accordingly. Pre- 
dictions which appeared to be clearly traceable to the 
holy woman herself we have inserted in the text ; 
while other current prophecies, which cannot with 
equal assurance be referred to her, although they may 
rest on respectable evidence, we have given in an 
Appendix ; with the addition of a short notice of 
various similar vaticinations uttered by persons gifted 
with the spirit of prophecy either in present or pafet 
times. 

As it is impossible to say, from day to day, what 
convent, or church, or pious institute at Eome may be 
sacrilegiously seized, or, as the official phrase is, * ex- 
propriated,' by the usurping Italian Government, it has 
been thought better to speak of them as they were, 
without adverting to the present state of things ; par- 
ticularly as that present, with all its wrongs and 
ravages, will, as all good Catholics confidently hope 
and believe, soon have become the past : • not merely in 
the ordinary sense of the term, as all present things are 
momentarily becoming, but in the sense of what is gone 
and vanished — gone with all its miserable i*esults — and 
Eome itself, freed from the horde of spoilers now camp- 
ing within its walls, will have once more recovered its 
true Catholic character and splendour under the pater- 
nal rule of its own Pontifi'-king. 



I 




DECREE OF THE CONGREGATION OF RITES. IX 

In accordance with the decree of Urban VIIL, and 
other Sovereign Pontiffs, we declare that all the graces, 
revelations, and miraculous facts related in this work 
have only a human authority, except so far as they have 
been confirmed by the Holy Catholic, Apostolic, and 
Koman Church, to whose infallible judgment we sub- 
mit whatever is written therein ; and that, in giving to 
the Servant of God, Anna Maria Taigi, the designation 
of Saint we have no thought of anticipating the decision 
of the Holy See, which alone has authority to pronounce 
to whom such character and title rightly belong. 



We subjoin the Decree of the Sacred Congregation 
of Rites in the original Latin, together with a literal 
translation of the same in the vernacular. 

* Decretum Beatificationis et Canonizationis Venera- 
bilis Serv(e Dei, Ann83 Marine Taigi, Tertiariae Ordinis 
Sanctissimas Trinitatis Eedemptionis Captivorum. 

* Qui potentiam sapientiamque suam ostensurus con- 
suevit ut plurimum per infirma ac stulta mundi atterere 
sseculi fastum, impiorum elidere molimina, frangere 
conatus inferorum — is hoc eevo nostro, ubi humana 
elatio infernseque vires coivisse visse sunt ad subruenda, 
si fieri posset, Ecclesiaa fund amenta non modo, sed et 
ipsius etiam civilis societatis, irrumpentibus undiquo 
fluctibus impietatis femellam objccit. Adhibuit ad 
hoc opus Annam Mariam Antoniam Jcsualdam Taigi, 
honcsto quidem loco natam, sed inopem, nuptam vul- 



X DECREE OF THE CONGREGATION OF RITES. 

gari viro, familiae curis implicitam, ac jugi manuum 
opere sibi suisque victum queerentem. Earn, quam sibi 
elegerat animarum illicem, expiationis hostiam, obsta- 
culum machinationibus, malormn deprecatricem, deter- 
sam antea sseculi pulvere, arctissimo sibi junxit chari- 
tatis vinculo, miris illustravit cbarismatibus, iisque vir- 
tutibus auxit quae non mode pios homines e quo vis 
societatis ordine etiam supremo, passim allicerent, bene 
vero et impios, omnibusque magnam sanctitatis ejus 
inderent existimationem. Hsec porro communis opinio, 
quffi totam Serv^ Dei vitam exornaverat, cum latius 
multo splendidiusque percrebuisset post ejus mortem, 
qu£e contigit die nona junii anni millesimi octingen- 
tesimi tricesimi septimi, in eamdem famam sanctitatis 
vitse, virtutum, et cbarismatum inquiri caepit per pro- 
cessum ordinaria auctoritate Romas institutum. Eo 
vero condito, ac necessariis omnibus paratis, instants 
adm. Rev. Clemente Maria Buratti, cubiculario hono- 
rario Sanctissimi Domini nostri Pii PP. IX., causaB 
Postulatore, Emus, et Rmus. Dominus Cardinalis Lu- 
dovicus Altieri, causaB Relator, in Ordinariis Sacrorum 
Rituum Congregationis comitiis ad Yaticanas sedes 
infra dicenda die coactis, dubium proposuit : An sit 
signanda commissio introductionis causes in casu et ad 
effedum de quo agitur ? Emi. autem et Rmi. Patres 
Sacris tuendis Ritibus praepositi, omnibus accurate per- 
pensis, auditoque voce et scripto R. P. D. Andrea 
Maria Erattini, Sanct^ Eidei Promotcre, rescribendum 
censuere : Signandam esse commissionem, si Sanctis- 
sinio placuen'f. Die 23 Decembris, 1862. 



DEGREE OP THE CONGREGATION OF RITES. XI 

* De quibus postea facta a subscripto secretario Sanc- 
tiesimo Domino nostro relatione, Sauctitas Sua rescrip- 
turn Sacrae Congregationis ratnm habens, propria manu 
signare dignata est commissionem introductionis causse 
Venerabilis Servse Dei, Annas Marise Taigi, die 8 Jan- 
uarii, 1863. 

*C. Episcopus Portuen. Card. Patkizi, S.E.C. Pi'SBfectus. 

* Loco >J^ signi. 
*D. Bartolini, S.R.C. Secretarius.' 

' Decree regarding the Beatification and Canoniza- 
tion of the Venerable Servant of God, Anna Maria 
Taigi, Tertiary of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity 
for the Redemption of Captives. 

* He who, when He would show forth His power 
and wisdom, hath been wont for the most part to use 
the weak and foolish things of the world to confound 
the haughtiness of man, to frustrate the designs of the 
impious, and bring to naught the efforts of hell, hath 
in this our age, when human pride and infernal power 
have seemed to combine to subvert, if it were possible, 
the foundations, not only of the Church, but even of 

-civil society itself, opposed a poor weak woman to the 
floods of impiety bursting in on every side. He hath 
employed for this work Anna Maria Antonia Gesualda 
Taigi, born, indeed, of honest parentage, but poor, 
married to a common man, hampered with the cares of 
a family, and fain to seek wherewith to support herself 
and them by the constant labour of her hands. This 
woman, whom He had chosen for Himself to be an 



in DECREE OF THE CONGREGATION OF BITES. 

attractor of souls, a victim of expiation, a bulwark 
against plots, a warder-off of evils by her prayers, He 
hath first cleansed from the dust of this world, and 
then hath united to Himself by the strictest bond of 
charity, hath adorned with wonderful gifts, and hath 
replenished with such virtues as to draw to her on 
all sides, not pious persons only, from every rank of 
society to the very highest, but even the impious them- 
selves, and to inspire all with the highest opinion of 
her sanctity. Now, this general opinion of men, with 
which the whole life of the Servant of God had been 
distinguished, having spread wider and become more 
notable after her death, which took place on the 9 th 
day of June in the year 1837, an inquiry was insti- 
tuted into this same report of her sanctity of life, vir- 
tues, and gifts, and the process therefore commenced 
by ordinary authority at Eome. All which being ef- 
fected, and the necessary preparations made, at the 
instance of the Very Eeverend Dom Clemente Maria 
Buratti, Honorary Chamberlain of our Most Holy 
Lord, Pope Pius IX., and Postulator of the cause, his 
Eminence the Cardinal Luigi Altieri, Eelator of the 
cause, in an ordinary assembly of the Sacred Congrega- 
tion of Eites, held in the Vatican Palace on the day to 
be named below, proposed this doubt : — Whether a 
commission he nominated for the introduction of the 
cause in the case and with the object of which there is 
qttestion? The Most Eminent and Most Eeverend 
Fathers, appointed guardians of the Sacred Eites, hav- 
ing well and duly weighed all things, and heard what 



DECBEE OF THE CONGREGATION OF RITES. XlU 

the Promoter of the Holy Faith, the Eeverend Dom 
Andrea Maria Frattini, had to say both by word and 
in writing, decided that this ansv/er be returned : — 
That a commissmi he nominated, if his Holiness shall 
so please. The 23d day of December, 1862. 

* A report hereupon having been afterwards made, by 
the undersigned Secretary, to our Most Holy Lord, his 
Holiness, after ratifying the rescript of the Sacred Con- 
gregation, was pleased to sign with his own hand a 
commission for the introduction of. the cause of the 
Venerable Servant of God, Anna Maria Taigi, on the 
8th day of January, 1863. 

* C. Bp. of Porto Card. Patkizi, 

* Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Rites; 
* 9^ Place of seal. 

• D. Bartolini, Secretary of the said Congregation.* 



CONTENTS. 



Adveetisement •.•.!•. page 7 
Decbee of the Sacbed Congeegation op Kites . ix 

CHAPTER I. 

ANNA MAEIA'S'EABLT YOUTH — HEB MAEEIAGE.' 

Character of her parents ; they remove from Siena to Rome. 
She receives a good Christian education. In her thii-teenth 
year is sent into a workshop. Returns home at nineteen ; 
her motives for desiring this change. Her love of dress and 
amusement. Enters service in the same house with her 
parents. Her refinement of speech and manners ; conse- 
quent dangers and temptations. Her conscience roused. 
She is advised to enter the married state ; her mode of view- 
ing the matter. Domenico Taigi ; his disposition and man- 
ners. His account of the engagement . • . page 1 

CHAPTER II. 

ANNA MAEIA'S FIEST YEAB OF MABBIED LIFE — HEB CONVEESION. 

Renewed indulgence of vanity. Anna Maria's dissatisfaction 
with herself. P. Angelo receives a divine intimation re- 
specting her. Her increased uneasiness of mind. Dis- 
couraging conduct of a priest; its probable explanation. 
The danger of such rebuffs. Anna Maria is led to disclose 
the secrets of her soul to P. Angelo . , . page 13 



XVi CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER III. 

ANNA MARIA'S LIFE OF SELF-SACRIFICE AND MORTIFICATION. 

Tlie self-sacrifice of the perfect contrasted with that of ordinary 
Christians. Character of Anna Maria's conversion. Her 
zeal against herself restrained by P. Angelo. Her fervour 
shown to be pleasing to God. « She is called to be a victim 
of expiation. She lays aside her ornaments and puts on 
common clothing. Importance of fidelity to our particular 
grace. Her frequent fasts. Her ingenuity in avoiding ob- 
servation. Mortification of the palate. Refusal to satisfy 
thirst. Restraint of the eyes and tongue. Denial of sleep. 
Her interior mortifications. Her victories over self. The 
arduous nature of such conflicts. Her repression of natural 
sympathies. Her self -mortification in spiritual things. 

page 21 

CHAPTER IV. 

ANNA MARIA'S BEHAVIOUR AS A WIFE. 

Her peculiar mission. Enthusiastic language of P. Bouffier. 
Gifts gratis data not in themselves, meritorious. Singular 
interest of Domenico's testimony. Sanctity tends to sim- 
plicity. Anna Maria's patience and exquisite tact. Her 
cheerful obedience to her husband ; and genuine rever- 
ence for him. Respect the guardian of love. Touching 
example of Domenico's appreciation of his wife's excellence. 
His own commendable qualities . . • • page 39 

CHAPTER V. 

ANNA MARIA'S BEHAVIOUR AS A MOTHEB. 

Her seven children. Her assiduity in teaching them their 
Christian duties. Her care to provide them with suitable 
employments. Her watchful guardianship of their modesty 
and virtue. Our Lord's promise in their regard. Her soli- 
citude with respect to their marriage and settlement in life. 
Her vigilance in excluding aU injurious conversation. Her 
veneration for the priesthood. Her truthfulness. Her house 
a kind of sanctuary. Devotional practices of the family. 
Sanctification of holidays. Innocent diversions. Anna 
Maria's sweet and joyous cheerfulness. Her delight in 
speaking of holy things ..... page 53 



CONTENTS. 



XVll 



CHAPTEE VI. 

ANNA MAEIA AS MISTRESS OF A FAMILY. 

Poverty of tlie family. Her strict frugality. Her industry and 
exactness. Kindness to her servants. Punctuality in pay- 
ing debts. Courage and energy in times of need. Freedom 
from bustle and eagerness. Unrel axing industry. Filial 
piety; and discretion in maintaining domestic harmony. 
Necessary imperfection of this sketch of her virtues. 

j^age 69 

CHAPTER VII. 

ANNA MABIA'S HEEOIO FAITH ; AND HER DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED 
TKINITY. 

Faith habitual and actual. Its powerful effects ; its inactivity 
in many Christians. The energy of Anna Maria's faith ; 
Cardinal Pedicini's testimony thereto. Her detestation of 
heresy, and grief at blasphemies against God and His truth. 
Her unaffected piety in conversation. Profound veneration 
for the sacraments. Zeal in observing the precepts of the 
Church, and high esteem of sacramentals. Unquestioning 
obedience to her confessor. Ardent love of the Church, and 
devotion to the Holy See. Her vivid spiritual perceptions. 
Special cultus of the Blessed Trinity characteristic of a high 
perfection. Anna Maria's reception into the Third Order 
of the Trinitarians. Her first sight of the mysterious sun. 
Her punctual observance of the exercises of the associa- 
tion ]^age 83 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ANNA MARIA*S SUBLIME HOPE AND CONFIDENCE IN GOD. 

Hope distinguished from faith. Its acts and objects. Anna 
Maria's hope in God the counterpart of her self-distrust. 
Her aversion to timidity and despondency. Her undoubt- 
ing trust visibly recompensed by God. Confidence in divine 
aid and the intercession of the saints. Persevering prayer, 
united with active labour. Refusal to accept relief for her- 
self or family ; the motives of this, Domenico's conduct in 
the matter. Deposition of her daughter Sofia. Her rela- 
tions with the Queen of Etruria. Exceptions to her rule of 
declining alms. Her eon Camillo drawn for the conscrip- 
tion. Her persistence in practising mortification. In- 



XVm CONTENTS. 

stances of her exhorting others to like trust in Providence. 
Her holy familiarity with God .... jpage 103 

CHAPTER IX. 

ANNA MABIA'S HEBOIC CHABITT TOWABDS GOD AND TOWAEDS HER 
NEIGHBOUR. 

The excellence of charity ; its object and motive. Anna Ma- 
ria's ardent love of God. Its evidences. Her wonderful 
ecstasies. How misconceived and misjud^ced ; even by her 
own family. Her holy sobriety ; and undisturbed peace of 
mind. Her laboui's for the poor. Her works of mercy. 
Solicitude for conversion of criminals. Charity to the sick. 
Special gift of consolation. Continual intercessoiy prayer.- 
Her sympathy and compassion. Her grace of listening. 
Kindness to animals. Testimony of her confessor, page 127 

CHAPTER X. 

ANNA MAEIA A SHINING EXAMPLE OF ALL THE VIETUES. 

Difficulty of selecting her characteristic virtues. She may be 
called a compendium of all. Patience the school of perfec- 
tion. Anna Maria the object of calumny. Instances of her 
forgiving charity and meekness. Her mastery over her na- 
tural disposition. Silence under insult. Her complicated 
maladies. Serenity and cheerfulness in suffering. Her 
profound humility. Dread of human praise and distinction. 
Self-withdrawal and respectfulness to others. Avoidance 
of all self-excuses. Concealment of spiritual gifts. Her 
frank sincerity j^age 152 

CHAPTER XI. 

ANNA MABIA'S DEVOTION TO THE MYSTERIES OP THE INFANCY AND 

PASSION, AND TO THE BLESSED SACBAMENT. 

Bethlehem and Calvary her two abodes. Her devout visits to 
chui'ches. Her love and compassion for her enemies. Ten- 
der devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Precious Blood. 
She becomes a daily communicant. Her fervours and rap- 
tures at Communion. Instance of her perfect unconscious- 
ness. These raptures almost habitual; their effects on 
others. Her gift of discerning the presence of the Blessed 
Sacrament. Miraculous manifestations . . page 174 



CONTENTS. XIX 

CHAPTEB XII. 

ANNA MARIA'S DEVOTION TO THE MOTHEB OP GOD, AND TO THE 
SAINTS AND ANGELS — HER CHARITY TO THE HOLY SOULS IN 
PURGATORY. 

Love for Mary correlative with love for Jesus. Mary the mo- 
ther of souls. Anna Maria's filial confidence in her. The 
Blessed Vii'gin dictates to her a prayer. The Madonna of 
Fra Petronio. Vision of our Lady as Mediatrix of Interces- 
sion. Saints to whom Anna Maria had a special devotion. 
Her colloquies with her guardian angel. Her tender solici- 
tude for souls in Purgatory. Their relief a part of her mis- 
Bion . • ;gage 183 

CHAPTER XIII. 

ANNA MARIA A VICTIM OF EXPIATION. 

The weapons of the Church, not carnal, but spiritual. Chosen 
souls the victims of divine justice. Her special mission re- 
vealed to Anna Maria. Her generous acceptance of it. Re- 
fusal of spiritual consolations a question of vocation. Her 
interior desolation. Exterior trials. Bodily ailments. In- 
fernal assaults. Distressing conferences with hardened 
sinners. Conversion of a Carhonaro. Diabolical tempta- 
tions and apparitions. Extraordinary divine locution. Her 
peculiar conformity with the sufferings of our Lord. His 
testimony thereto j^age 195 

CHAPTER XIV. 

ANNA MARIA'S VISION OP THE MYSTERIOUS SUN. 

Scepticism of the age. Anna Maria a witness to the super- 
natural. Her special Apostle ship. Divine origin of her 
extraordinary gift. Description of the mysterious sun. 
Symbolic interpretation thereof. Her gift compared with 
those of St. Frances of Rome and St. Hildegarde. Her 
mission contrasted with that of St. Catherine of Siena. The 
gift permanent; not habitual; nor uninterrupted in its 
exercise 'page 219 



h 



XX CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XV. 

WHAT ANNA MAEIA SAW IN THE MTSTEKIOrS SUN ; AND HOW SHE 

DISCEENED TB:E INTEKIOR STATE OF SOULS. 

The difierent figmres and symbols Tv\ich she beheld. The 
whole world displayed before her. She gives counsel and 
instmction to bishops and others. Her theological science 
and knowledge of divine mysteries. Her solicitude for her 
spiritual sons. Her fear of being influenced by mere na- 
tural tenderness ; colloquy with om- Lord. Discernment of 
the state of consciences. Remarkable instances of this 
power. Her insight into the interior of souls. Knowledge 
of secret thoughts and intentions. Examples . page 238 



CHAPTER XYI. 

ANNA MARIA'S KNOWLEDGE OF THE STATE OF THE DEAD, AND OF 
THE APPROACH OF DEATH. 

The eternal state of souls manifested to her. Hardness to the 
poor, how displeasing to God. Faults that she saw punished 
in Purgatoiy. Visions of souls going sti*aight to glory. Her 
knowledge of the death and salvation of Alexander I. of 
Russia. Prescience of the deaths of Popes and others : 
the Duchess of Lucca ; Lady Clifford ; Cardinal Weld ; Arc. 
Death of one who had treated her with contempt, j^age 258 



CHAPTER XVn. 

ANNA MARIA'S KNOWLEDGE OF THINGS IN THE NATURAL ORDER 
AND OF FUTURE EVENTS. 

She sees into the bed of Lake Xemi ; foretells the burning of 
St. Paul's Basilica. Her interest in great and small things 
alike. Insight into the disorders of the sick. Knowledge 
of the natural properties of things. Her conduct respecting 
lottery-tickets. Announcement of coming perils. Acquaint- 
ance with distant and future things. Remarkable instance 
in the case of Mgr. Strambi. She is conscious of intima- 
tions fi'om a distance. Testimony of Princess Yittoria Bar- 
berini to her supernatural powers . . , page 281 



CONTENTS. XXI 



CHAPTER XVin. 

iNNA MAEIA*S KNOWLEDGE OF EVENTS, POLITICAL, ECCLESIASTICAL, 
AND RELIGIOUS. 

Her visions of battles, revolutions, &c. Intimate acquaintance 
with the political state of the world. Interview with an 
eminent diplomatist. Knowledge of plots and conspiracies. 
Machinations of the wicked defeated by her prayers and 
penances. Her sufferings necessary for divers ends. She 
beholds the impending persecutions of the Church. Fore- 
tells the elevation of Cardinal Cappellari to the Papal 
chair ^age 298 

CHAPTER XIX. 

PROPHECIES CONCERNING PIUS IX. AND HIS REIGN. 

Anna Maria's description of Pius IX. Her prediction of three 
days' darkness. Question as to its physical nature. The 
Holy Father's expectation of some sudden and terrible 
judgment. His allusion to another prophecy of the Servant 
of God. The judgment probably not far distant. Anna 
Maria's prophecy of the length of the Pope's reign. Ques- 
tion as to his beholding the promised triumph of the 
Church. That triumph connected with the restoration of 
France. The error of fixing dates for the fulfilment of pre- 
dictions j^age 310 

CHAPTER XX. 

ANNA MARIA'S GIFT OF HEALING. 

How this gift was communicated to her. She heals several* 
cases of cancer; and other diseases. Cardinal Barberini 
restored to health by her prayers ; the Queen of Etruria by 
her touch. Cure of her granddaughter ; and of Domenico. 
Blindness of the latter to his wife's supernatural gift. 

page 329 

CHAPTER XXI. 

ANNA MARIA'S CLOSING DAYS AND DEATH. 

Renewal of the inner man while the outer man decays. Anna 
Maria's perfect correspondence with divine grace. Rever- 
ence shown her by the poor. Her longing for retirement 
and obscurity. Our Lord reveals to her her approaching 



Xni CONTENTS. 

end. Her admirable patience and desire of sufferings. She 
is favoured with an unusual dispensation from the Pope. 
Her exhausting maladies: aggravated by the doctors. The 
day of her death is revealed to her. Her farewell admoni- 
tions to her family. Conduct of a creditor. She receives 
the Viaticum and Extreme Unction. Is left to die unat- 
tended : how this came about. Her last moments. Letters 
of Cardinal Pedicini and P. Filippo Luigi di San Nicola. 
Remarks by the latter on the Servant of God . j^age 338 



CHAPTER XXII. 

ANNA MARIA'S INTERMENT AND RE-INTERMENTS. 

Panic caused by the cholera the occasion of her death being 
little known. Her body removed to the parish church; 
and thence to the Cemetery of San Lorenzo. Securities 
for identification. Popular eagerness to learn all details 
respecting her. Her house and tomb become the objects 
of pious resoi-t. Testimonies to her sanctity from Cardinal 
Pedicini and other cardinals and prelates. Her reported 
appearance after death tested by the Y. Viucenzo Pallotti. 
Don Raffaele Natali commissioned to collect documents re- 
lating to her. Mgr. Luquet's Life of the Servant of God. 
Recognition of the body after eighteen years' inteiTQent. 
Strictness of the precautions taken. The body is transported 
to Santa Maria della Pace. And again, ten years later, to 
San Crisogono in Trastevere. Re-examination in 1868. P. 
Calixte's interview with Mgr. Natali. Anna Maria's bust. 
Notice of Mgr. Natali's death .... jpage 363 

CHAPTER XXm. 

MIRACLES ATTESTING THE SANCTITY OF THE SERVANT OF GOD. 

Miraculous intervention a subject of interest to Catholics. 
Poverty of Anna Maria's family relieved in a singular 
manner. Instances of cures and special graces received 
through her intercession. A remarkable case in the island 
of Malta. Other instances. Declaration of our Lord to His 
servant that it was His will to make her known to the world 
as an example of penance and a model of married women. 
Her threatenings of judgment matter of serious reflec- 
tion jpage 386 



CONTENTS. 



xxiii 



APPENDIX. 

FRAGMENTS OF ANNA MAEIA'S PEEDICTIONS — HER PROPHECIES 
COMPARED WITH THOSE OF OTHER GIFTED SOULS. 

D. Eaffaele Natali reserved in his disclosures. Fragments col- 
lected by P. Calixte. Contribution from the Abbe Curicque. 
Similar announcements of Elisabetta Canori Mora. Ques- 
tion as to the literal or figurative interpretation of certain 
prophetic visions. Predictions of the widow Palma. The 
Abbe Brandt's report of his interview with her. Dr. Imbert 
Gourbeyre's account of a conversation with her. Predic- 
tions of Sister Kosa Colomba. The connection of the peace 
of France with that of the Church. Prophecy of St. Cesa- 
rius. Traditionary beliefs prevailing in the East. Eemark- 
able words of the Comte de Maistre. A great triumph of 
the Church foretold by St. Catherine of Siena ; St. Hilde- 
garde ; V. Grignon de Montfort ; Marie Lataste. The V. 
Barthelemi Holzhauser's commentary on the Apocalypse. 
The great Pope and powerful Monarch. Prophecies of Soeur 
de la Nativity. Extract from the CiviltU Cattolica, 

jpage 395 



LIFE 



OP THE 



VENEMBLE ANNA MARIA TAIGI 



CHAPTER I. 

ANNA Maria's early youth — her marriage. 

LuiGi GiANNETTi and his wife, Santa Maria Masi, were 
respectable inhabitants of the ancient city of Siena in 
Tuscany ; respectable, not merely according to the con- 
ventional acceptation of the word, but in its true and 
proper meaning. Giannetti was universally esteemed 
by his fellow-townsmen for his probity ; and his wife, 
though she was troubled with an awkward temper, en- 
joyed that consideration which solid Christian prin- 
ciples are sure to win from good and worthy people.* 
They had bub one child, who was born on the 29th of 
May, 1769, and was baptised the following day, re- 
ceiving the name of Anna- Maria -Antonia-Gesualda. 
Her father, who kept a chemist's shop, was, a few years 
later, entirely ruined. The cause of this apparent mis- 

* It is worthy to be recorded of this good woman that, when 
at Kome, she had the singular honour of preparing for hurial 
the body of a saint of our day, the Blessed Joseph Lahre. 

B 



:£ T. A^XA MARIA TAIGT. 

fortune is not stated ; nor is tliis surprising, for tvLlo 
would care to chronicle the affairs, adverse or jDrosper- 
ous, of a little tradesman, whose very name would have 
long since passed into ohlivion, but for the lustre which 
his child has reflected upon it ? All we know is that 
his pecuniary ruin was owing to what is called a reverse 
of fortune, which may have been brought on by im- 
prudence, but did not carry with it any personal dis- 
grace. " These reverses of fortune are, however, in all 
cases Providential arrangements, though men are so apt 
to regard them simply as untoward accidents. In the 
present instance, we can clearly discern the influence of 
this event on the future life of Anna Maria. It re- 
duced her to the condition which she was ordained to 
occupy, and it brought her to the centre of Christendom, 
where God designed to manifest her sanctity and high 
gifts to the Catholic world. Giannetti, actuated pro- 
bably by a natural repugnance to remain, beggared as 
he now was. amongst those who had known him in 
easy and comfortable circumstances, and hoping, no 
doubt, to have better chances of employment in a larger 
and richer place, left Siena and repaired to Eome with 
his wife and child, then a pretty little girl barely six 
years old. Their extreme destitution is evidenced Ly 
the fact that they made the whole journey on foot. 

* Anna Maria's biographers have all given a general good 

cliai^cter of Giannetti, and Domenico Taigi expressly testifies 
in the processes that he and his wife -were good Christians. The 
Carmelite Father, Filippo Luigi di San Nicola, Anna Maria's 
confessor, who left a deposition inserted in the processes, with- 
out saving anything precisely contradictory, does not seem to 
take a very favom-able view of Giannetti. He speaks of him as 
an indiscreet man, who had dissipated his fortune, and says he 
was far from beiug kind to his daughter in her youth. At the 
time he knew him, however, Giannetti was probably som-ed by 
misfortune and sickness. 



HER EARLY YOUTH. 



Giannetti found what lie sought in the Eternal City, 
ohscurity and work. He and his wife soon procured 
some daily employment as domestic servants, and were 
enabled to take a small lodging in the Strada delle 
Vergini, in the Eione (or quarter) dei Monti. It he- 
longed to the parish of San Francesco di Paula, now 
known as Santa Maria dei Monti. His first care was 
to provide for the Christian education of his child, a 
blessing which in Eome is as free to the poor as the 
rich. 1^0 city, indeed, in the world can boast of an 
equal number of gratuitous schools for primary instruc- 
tion as Eome. They are brought, as it were, to the 
door of every poor family, for one may be met with at 
almost every turn. Anna Maria was accordingly sent 
§very day to the ' Maestre Pie,' as the good Eeligious 
were called who superintended one of these charitable 
institutions in a neighbouring street, the Yia Graziosa. 
She was a very engaging child and soon won the love 
of her mistresses, the nuns, who showed their affection 
in the best way in which they could show it, by culti- 
vating piety in her young heart. They were well 
seconded at home, where, indeed, she had been early 
taught to say her infantine prayers with devotion, and 
often to repeat the sweet names of Jesus and Mary. 
The husband of Anna Maria, who after her death was 
called to make his deposition, said he was certain that 
her i)areiits had given her an excellent education, and 
had been careful that she should receive all the sacra- 
ments proper to her age at the right time. He stated, 
moreover, that they used to take her daily to hear 
Mass at a very early hour, and he believed that she 
was also in the habit of frequent confession. It was at 
the church of San Giovanni Laterano that Anna INIaria 
received the sacrament of Confirmation, when eleven 



4 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

years of age ; and a little later she made her first Com- 
munion in her parish church of San Francesco di Paula. 
It was a day for which she had longed with all the 
eagerness of her innocent and loving heart ever since 
she knew of the blessing in store for her, and at this 
first visit of our Lord to her soul she was filled with 
exceeding joy. But, as no particular notice, so far as 
we are aware, is taken of her first Communion in the 
processes, we may reasonably conclude that there was 
nothing manifested by her on that occasion, or at least 
that nothing was on record, surpassing either in kind 
or in degree what may not seldom be observed in such 
Cathohc children as are readily disposed to receive 
devout impressions, and have had the benefit of careful 
religious training. This advantage she had thoroughly 
enjoyed, for her mistresses, noting her inclination tb 
piety, had lost no opportunity of instructing her in di- 
vine things. She had a quick intelligence and ready 
apprehension ; she also acquired with facility skill in 
all the various works suited to women, and likely to be 
serviceable to one of her station in life. Above all, she 
had an excellent heart, which endeared her to all about 
her. She had now attained her thirteenth year, and, 
having made her first Communion, her education was 
considered to be completed. Her parents accordingly 
removed their child from school, in order to place her 
where she could learn a business. They looked out for 
persons to whom they could safely entrust their trea- 
sure, and found two good women, of somewhat advanced 
age, who lived by the labour of their hands, and had 
several young girls under their care who, while them- 
selves receiving instruction, assisted their employers in 
their work. When they had acquired a certain pro- 
ficiency, their mistresses allowed them a trifling propor- 



HER EARLY YOUTH. 



tion out of their gains ; and, as Anna Maria was both, 
docile and handy, she was soon able to bring her pa- 
rents a few small coins every week to add to the slender 
family purse. 

She seems to have been chiefly employed in winding 
raw silk in preparation for manufacture ; and in this 
occupation she continued for six years, giving much 
satisfaction to her mistresses. A wish to return home 
now arose in her heart. It was prompted by a good 
motive, reinforced, however, by one less laudable. She 
was anxious to assist her mother, and lighten her daily 
toil, and thought she might be of more use in this way 
than as at present engaged, for her earnings were very 
slight; and then, sooth to say, she was getting a little 
tired of winding silk, and hankered after some variety. 
The reason is not far to seek : the innocent and pious 
child, who is satisfied when it hopes to have pleased its 
Heavenly Father and its earthly parents, or those who 
stand to it in parental relations, and whose recreations 
are as simple as itself, too soon outgrows this happy 
state ; and then comes a critical time. The world un- 
folds upon its view : a child scarce perceives the world, 
and does not know what it is even when it casts an eye 
upon it ; but with youth the eyes are opened, and quite 
a new revelation is made to the inner apprehension. 
This revelation is simultaneous with a certain develop- 
ment of self-consciousness ; indeed, this word perhaps 
best sums up what takes place in the young girl's heart. 
It becomes to her the source of vanity, and may be said, 
generally speaking, to be in her the temptation which 
corresponds with that of the passions, which at this 
period begin to dawn and gather strength in the youth's 
heart, and act as his snare and allurement to draw Mm 
from the paths of virtue. 



6 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

Anna Maria had arrived at this dangerous season of 
life, a season in passing through which the piety of 
many who have afterwards become glorious saints has 
suffered a partial obscuration or eclipse. Witness St. 
Teresa herself, the Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque, 
and others who might be named. These holy soi Js 
subsequently applied to their lives at that period epi- 
thets which might have misled such as had not other 
sources of information. It is because saints feel so 
keenly their former infidelities to grace and deafness to 
the call of their Beloved, that they can with all sincerity 
use such expressions about themselves as are calculated 
to convey the idea that their souls had been stained 
with some grievous offence against God.* Anna 
Maria, then, at this age loved dress not a little, though 
she had little means wherewith to indulge the taste, 
and she wanted to see the world with somewhat more 
freedom than was possible while confined in a dull 
workshop. Of course that wish implied what is not 
so readily avowed even to self, the desire to be seen. 
For who is solicitous to dress smartly and becomingly 
for no one's eye ? To wish to be seen is of necessity 
also a wish to please and be admired ; these several 

* Mgr. Luquet, Anna Maria Taigi's fii*st biographer, did, 
in fact, interpret too literally the terms in which the servant 
of God spoke of her past life, and the name of ' sinner' which 
she applied to herself. He consequently accepted without due 
examination a false statement with regard to her conduct after 
marriage ; accusing her, nojb only of levity and love of worldly 
dissipation, but of the sin of unchastity and conjugal infidelity. 
Later he bitterly deplored his mistake. Anna Maria's daughters 
protested against such a judgment of their mother's character, 
and all the documents of the processes abundantly prove that 
she never arrived at committing a grave offence, however much 
her heart may have been allured by the love of pleasure and 
amusement. This remark applies to her life both previous to 
and immediately succeeding her marriage. 



HER EARLY YOUTH. 7 

wishes, which all hang together, being often included 
under the mere expressed desire for a ' change/ a 
phrase so commonly heard from the lips of our young 
v/omen. And how much is implied in that simple 
word ! 

It must not, however, be for a moment supposed 
that Anna Maria had given up her religious practices, 
or had a thought of offending God. or of overstepping 
the bounds of Christian modesty; on the contrary, 
like so many of her inexperienced age, she had not even 
an idea of the perils which lay hid under the smiling 
attractions of the world which was captivating her 
imagination and soliciting her affections. It was agreed 
between Anna Maria and her parents that she should 
go into service ;^ and they thought themselves very for- 
tunate when they succeeded in locating their daughter 
in the same house in which they were themselves em- 
ployed as domestics ; their mistress, who occupied a 
portion of the Palazzo Maccaroni, consenting to take 
her as her maid. I^othing could seem better than that 
she should thus be placed under the eye of her parents 
and enjoy the advantage of their protection. But if 
the watchful care of father and mother do not always 
avail to preserve their children from temptations and 
perils even in their own homes, much less could the 
presence of the Giannetti offer a sure guarantee of their 
daughter's prudent behaviour under another's roof, 
where, too, they each had their separate avocations. 
The Palazzo was large, and there were other families 
lodging in it, with, of course, their visitors and friends 
frequenting the house. Anna Maria was pretty, and 
remarkably pleasing. Dress, of which we have said 
she was fond, sat becomingly on her, and this, com- 
bined with manners and diction superior to such as are 



8 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

usual in girls of ker class, was sure to attract tlie notice 
of those whose admiration is dangerous. Anna Maria's 
mother, it will be remembered, had seen better days, 
and had probably received an education sufficiently 
cultivated to secure her from the vulgarity of speech 
common among the lower orders ; add to which, that 
the accent of the people of Siena and the purity of 
language which distinguishes them are remarkable even 
in Tuscany, that classic land of the Italian tongue. The 
daughter had caught from her mother her native beauty 
of language, which added a great charm to her attrac- 
tive appearance ; for who has not felt that a pretty 
face can ill atone for an ordinary voice and a vulgar 
phraseology, and that it loses half its grace as soon as 
the mouth is opened ? Anna Maria, then, simple and 
uncultivated as she was, — for her education, good in a 
religious point of view, had not extended beyond the 
merest elements, — spoke and bore herself with a refine- 
ment which seemed rather to belong to one of gentle 
birth; a circumstance which, as it added to her at- 
tractions, added doubtless also to her perils, as her 
lowly condition of life left her devoid of those thousand 
safeguards which hedge in the daily path of the well- 
born damsel, forming around her a sort of guard of 
honour, under the protection of which she may often 
carelessly indulge her vanity — not, indeed, without de- 
triment to the life of grace within, or to Christian 
purity of heart, but, at least, without any immediate 
peril to virtue. 

We know that Anna Maria was exposed to temp- 
tations of this character, while living as a servant in 
the Maccaroni Palace, but no details have reached us. 
This, however, is of small importance — the imagina- 
tion can readily supply them ; and besides, it is not a 



HER EARLY YOUTH. 9 

romance, but a saint's life on which we are engaged, so 
that the chief and, indeed, the sole matter of interest is 
to know what was the effect on her spiritual state of 
being brought face to face with these perils to innocency 
which she had neither anticipated nor apprehended. 
A word, a- look, it may be, revealed to her one day the 
danger of her soul and the abyss of sin which was 
yawning at her feet : at any rate she saw it, recoiled 
into herself, and by God's grace understood whither 
her thoughtless levity was leading her. She imme- 
diately betook herself to the fortress of prayer, and re- 
doubled her assiduity in the performance of her religious 
exercises, as well as her dutiful attention to her parents, 
in which, indeed, she had never been wanting. Eut 
this did not suffice her : her strong and ardent mind 
was incapable alife of feeble impressions and of half 
resolutions ; she had perceived her danger, and desired 
to provide against its recurrence. This set her upon 
considering her future life; she knew that, although 
parents can offer good and affectionate advice, which 
comes with great authority from their lips, yet that in 
matters so nearly concerning our salvation we must 
seek Divine light and the counsel of our appointed 
spiritual guides. Accordingly she had recourse to her 
confessor, who recommended her to enter the married 
state, and bade her pray for direction from above. She 
followed his advice, confessed and communicated more 
frequently, and, without neglecting her work, allotted 
more time to prayer, offering her intentions for the 
object she sought, and hoping thus to obtain the grace 
of being united to one suited to her in disposition, who 
feared God, and with whom she could spend her days 
holily. Not a thouglit nor a desire did she give to the 
bettering of her earthly state by marriage; nay, she 



10 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

mucli preferred to wed one wlio was poor, like herself, 
and to earn her bread by the labour of her hands. 
IN'or do we hear of the imagination being consulted any 
more than her temporal interests. True, as we have 
said, she wished to marry one whose disposition was 
suited to her own : this was desirable for the sake of 
married happiness and peace of mind, and for common 
edification, but of all that is calculated to gratify the 
fancy we hear not a word; and, in truth, we have 
reason to thmk, judging by tJie choice she made, or, ra- 
ther, which she considered God had made for her and 
which she cheerfully accepted, that no such ideas found 
entrance into her mind. To many this way of con- 
sidering the question of marriage will appear very un- 
romantic ; but in the first place we may observe that 
the romance of a saint's life — and it possesses, as, 
indeed, does the interior life of every soul, a touching 
romance of its own — is to be sought, not in exterior 
adventitious circumstances, but within. Besides, al- 
though the true ideal of a Catholic union need not, 
and does not, exclude personal liking of a less — as 
some persons would style it — prosaic character than 
what is here described, it still remains that the further- 
ance of highest interests, and not the mere pleasing of 
eye, taste, or fancy, is the main and the legitimate 
motive of a Christian marriage. Good Catholics are, 
indeed, well aware that, in order to enter that state 
with the blessing of God, they ought to be able reason- 
ably to hope that the marriage union will not only 
offer no hindrance to their salvation, but prove a 
means, according to God's order in their regard, for 
their advance in holiness of life. It was with a single 
view to this end that Anna Maria looked forward to 
marriage. 



HER MARRIAGE. 11 

About that time her father had made the acquaint- 
ance of a young man named Domenico Taigi, who was 
a domestic servant in the Chigi family. He was a 
Milanese by birth, and deservedly enjoyed an excellent 
character, for he was well-principled, regular in his 
conduct, and attentive to his religious duties. To say, 
on the other hand, that he had no polish would be to 
fall far short of the truth ; for he seems to have been 
quite uncultivated,- and to have had that rusticity of 
habits and manners which belongs to the peasant class, 
]^evertheless he came of high lineage, being descended 
from one of the most illustrious families of Milan, the 
Taeggi,* Taeggio, indeed, and not Taigi was the name 
by which he always called himself,! and he is thus 
entered on the roll of the servants attached to the 
house of Chigi. It is not true therefore, as has been 
asserted, that Anna Maria made a mesalliancey so far 
as birth was concerned, in espousing Domenico Taigi; 
on the contrary, his original extraction was noble, and 
her own parents belonged only to the middle class, 
while, as regarded their present condition, they were 
on an equality ; the advantage being rather in favour 

* From documents of the fifteenth century it appears that 
the Dukes of Milan conferred special privileges on this family, 
a proof both of its high rank and of the estimation in which it 
was already held at that time. Other existing documents of a 
later date show that high offices of trust were at different times 
committed to members of this noble family, which seems to 
have been distinguished as much by merit as by rank. 

t The corruption of Taigi had its oiigin with the school- 
fellows of Anna Maria's little girls, who were sent, as she her- 
self had been, to the Maestro Pie. Mgr. Luquet, who wrote 
the first published Life of the Venerable Servant of God, un- 
wittingly adopted an error which had already obtained some 
currency. It has thus gone the round of Europe, and the name 
of Taigi is now too familiar to Catholic ears for any subsequent 
biographer to think of recurring to the correct etymology. 



12 V. ANNA 31 ARIA TAIGI. 

of Domenico, who served a princely house. Yet under 
another aspect the union might be regarded as ill- 
sorted ; for Anna Maria certainly married one who 
was her inferior in point of breeding. Education may 
bridge over considerable inequalities of birth and sta- 
tion, but the purest blood cannot make amends for 
ignorance, coarseness, and vulgarity. A woman mar- 
ries the man such as he is, and not his ancestors ; and 
disparity in cultivation of mind and manners, which in 
a married couple must always be a great cross to the 
superior, becomes peculiarly trying if, as in the present 
case, it is the husband who is the inferior. Indeed, as 
a matter of fact, we know that this good man was to 
prove a trial to his partner in more ways than one ; but 
this doubtless entered into God's designs for her more 
perfect sanctifi cation. 

Domenico's deficiencies, if not his faults, were, how- 
ever, of a character to be readily discernible ; and as 
Anna Maria, therefore, with her tact and refinement, 
cannot have failed to see them, it is plain that she did 
not consider them as furnishing sufficient reason for 
rejecting him. He was virtuous and attached to his 
religion, and so might be the person whom Providence 
had selected for her husband. Accordingly, when he 
sought her in marriage, she did not refuse him, but 
expressed a desire to ascertain the will of God by 
prayer, recommending him to do the same. In this he 
readily concurred, and from his statement on oath, when 
called to make his deposition, we gather that, like 
Anna Maria, he approached the consideration of mar- 
riage in a truly Christian spirit. These are his words : 
— ^ When purposing to marry, I made enquiries regard- 
ing the servant of God and her family ; the result 
having been very satisfactory, I decided on marrying 



FIRST YEAR OF MARRIED LIFE. 13 

her. She was ahout eighteen years old, and was in 
service with a certain lady, called Maria. As I used 
to carry this lady her dinner every day, the aifair was 
all arranged in a month's time. I asked her in mar- 
riage of both her mother and her father, who served in 
the same house, after having made sure that the young 
girl would accept me. I know that she prayed to God 
in order to ascertain His will. I on my part did the 
same. I also remember that she was dressed decently 
and suitably. The marriage took place in the parish 
church of San Marcello within the Octave of the Epi- 
phany. It was the 7th January, 1790.' Domenico's 
memory must have failed him with respect to his wife's 
age, for she wanted little more than four months of 
being one -and -twenty, at the date of her marriage, 
having been born, as has been stated, on the 29 th of 
May, 1769. 



CHAPTER II. 

FIRST YEAR OF HER MARRIED LIFE— HER CONVERSION. 

D OMEN ICO Taigi had found a treasure in Anna Maria. 
She was ever to him, even during the period preceding 
her conversion, a loving, faithful, and industrious help- 
mate. She studied all his wishes, and never from the 
first was deficient in any duty incumbent on a good 
and Christian wife. Add to which, she did all with 
that grace and cheerfulness which lends a charm to the 
simplest actions. Still it would be a mistake to sup- 
pose that the love of dress and amusement was as yet 
eradicated from her heart. We have heard how Do- 
menico spoke of her attire at the time he asked her in 



14 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

marriage. Serious tlioiiglits were in the ascendant then, 
and, no doubt, she had ceased to give the same atten- 
tion as before to the adorning of her person. She 
would no longer allow her vanity this gratification, for 
she had recognised its danger ; but what she had re- 
nounced for her own sake, she was by and by to re- 
sume, and with not much reluctance, as it would seem, 
for that of another. Domenico himself was in fault on 
this occasion, so far as fault may be found in the 
pride which a husband very commonly feels in showing 
off his young and pretty wife to advantage. Fault 
there is, of course, in all vanity, but this is a form of it 
which naturally pleads for much indulgence ; and there 
are many in whom, little advanced as they are in the 
spiritual life, it can scarcely be regarded as deserving of 
censure. It is in them a natural result of affection, full, 
indeed, of all that imperfection which belongs to mere 
nature, but the absence of which would in their case 
only argue less conjugal tenderness, not greater spiritual 
perfection. So far in excuse for Domenico's desire to 
see his wife gaily dressed on festal days and at places 
of entertainment, where every look of admiration di- 
rected to her was sweet to his feelings and ffattering to 
his choice. 

But not so was it with Anna Maria. !N'ot only was 
she acting imperfectly, but she knew it. She felt an 
inward sting and reproach ; the Holy Spirit had not 
spoken to her soul in vain : for her it was idle to seek 
excuses, the necessity of seeking which has never even 
occurred to those who have had less light and no spe- 
cial call of grace. She dressed, it is true, to please her 
husband ; she went to places of amusement, displaying 
all the beauty of her twenty years enhanced by the 
ornaments which his affection had bestowed upon her, 



FIRST YEAR OF MARRIED LIFE. 15 

and all to please her husband. What more natural 1 
some will say ; or even more commendable I But then^ 
it must be added, Avhile loving to please her husband, 
Anna Maria loved the means,— -that is, the dress and 
the display, — as well as the end, and her inward Moni- 
tor did not fail to tell her so. Besides, God had higher 
designs in her regard, with which this easy sort of life 
was irreconcilable. For persons thus called not to go 
forward is to fall back ; with them there is no standing 
still. With less favoured souls there, may be what 
looks like such a stationary condition ; their poor efforts 
just availing, with the aid of grace, to keep them from 
slipping back into positive sin, and to maintain their 
spiritual position ; like the feeble rower, the strokes of 
whose oar enable him to resist being carried back by 
the stream, yet are not sufficiently powerful to help him 
to make head against its current. But when God sends 
a great offer of grace to a soul, we cannot reckon upon 
even thus much ; for He is not content to have thus 
much, and no more, in return for His magnificent liber- 
ality. He is a jealous God; He has given Himself 
emphatically that designation, and it contains a fearful 
threatening of wrath which we can never fathom in this 
life, along with a revelation as deep of love unutterable, 
incomprehensible ! The two — the jealousy and the love 
— are counterparts and commensurate. God was pur- 
suing Anna Maria with one of those offers of love of 
which the most ardent passion of the human heart is 
but a faint shadow and type, and sh& was ignoring it. 
She was trying to lead an ordinary life, that is, to fulfil 
her essential duties, and at the same time to smile and 
frolic through the flowery season of life, and indulge all 
that exuberant gladsomencss and love of pleasure which 
revels in the hearts of the children of the sunny south. 



16 V. ANNA MAEIA TAIGI. 

Surely this might be allowable; it might have been 
dangerous once, when she stood alone, but she has an 
arm to lean upon now, and a protector to guard her. 
How illusory such confidence has too often proved, 
when vanity has been allowed its unrestrained gratifi- 
cation, we need not observe, but Anna Maria, happily, 
was never to learn this lesson by sad experience. Mean- 
while she had no thought of offence or of sin; she 
meant only what so many mean without encountering 
reproach, either exterior or interior, to be glad and re- 
joice in the days of her youth. But this was not to be : 
God would have her all for Himself and at once, now, 
in her youth and her beauty and the freshness of her 
heart, or, it may be, — not at all. 

It was about a year after their marriage when, on 
one bright festal morning, Anna Maria, leaning on her 
husband's arm, was wending her way amidst the happy 
crowd that was streaming towards St. Peter's. She was 
dressed with all the taste and care which her humble 
circumstances permitted ; nevertheless, her heart was 
ill at ease : she knew it was not well with her, and 
was secretly conscious that all this vanity, trifling as it 
might seem, was displeasing to God. Still she had no 
present will to give up the world, and little knew what 
a change was about to be worked in her. God, how- 
ever, at this very moment revealed His purposes to a 
holy Eeligious, P. Angelo, a Servite, who accidentally 
passed near her in the crowd. She was entirely un- 
known to him, and would not have attracted his notice 
but for an interior voice which said to him, * Observe 
that woman ; I shall place her in your hands. You will 
labour at her conversion, and she will sanctify herself, 
for I have chosen her, and have called her to be a 
saint.' Anna Maria passed on, little suspecting that the 



HER CONVERSION. 17 

guide selected by God to lead her to the highest paths 
of perfection was close beside her, and had even now 
received his commission from on high. Yet she may 
have received a secret touch of grace, for she had no 
sooner entered the Basilica than she went to prostrate 
herself before the tomb of the Apostles, where she 
prayed with all the fervour of her soul. The inward 
voice of God's Spirit now spoke more pressingly to her, 
and with more distinct utterance. The light which she 
had so often endeavoured, albeit indeliberately, to ex- 
tinguish shone with greater clearness, and she could no 
longer deceive herself. She had been setting her soul 
to sleep, and shutting her eyes to the things of Heaven 
that she might enjoy those of earth; she was awake 
now, her eyes were opened. The delusive dream had 
vanished, and left only bitterness and a cheerless void 
in her heart. How many feel this void when worldly 
pleasures disappoint them, or bring satiety, as they 
surely must at length, who yet never suspect that this 
vague yearning is the cry of the soul which has been 
created for God and can never rest satisfied with any- 
thing short of its supreme and uncreated good. Well, 
indeed, it is for them who make this discovery before 
they plunge anew into the fruitless search for happi- 
ness among creatures. 

Til ere was a combat going on in Anna Maria's heart, 
but grace was gaining the advantage over nature. 'No 
longer able to endure the inward agitation of her soul, 
and convinced that she would never bo restored to 
peace till some radical change was effected in her, she 
resolved to seek this peace in the tribunal of penance, 
and, after her visit to St. Peter's, endeavoured to put 
her purpose into execution in another church. Here 
she entered a confessional, and her first words, afte 





.18 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

casting herself on lier knees, were, ' Father, behold a 
poor sinner at your feet.' Whether the priest was hur- 
ried, or whatever might be the cause, he treated her in. 
a manner quite foreign to the patience and tender- 
ness which the penitent expects to find in the minister 
and representative of Christ, an expectation, indeed, 
rarely disappointed. Having scarcely allowed her to 
finish her confession, he hastily gave her absolution 
and dismissed her curtly with these words : ' Go, you 
are not one of my penitents.'* The explanation which 
most readily suggests itself, although it does not ex- 
cuse the repelling behaviour of one who was sitting in 
the place of the compassionate Jesus, the Friend of 
Sinners, seems to be the following. Anna Maria, in the 
light of divine grace, had beheld her soul steeped in 
worldly affections and following the corrupt bent of 
nature. She saw also with dismay whither such a path 
leads, and felt to her heart's inmost core what an evil 
and bitter thing it was to leave the fountains of living 
water for the poisonous pool of natural gratification. 
The interior illumination she had received was doubt- 
less very strong, being proportioned to the high sanctity 
to which God would lead her. To such heights the 
depths of humiliation must correspond. Hence her 
heartfelt designation of herself as *a poor sinner,' an 
expression which misled this unknown priest, as it has 
also helped to mislead others. When, however, the 
confessor found that she had nothing whereof to accuse 
herself except what might be regarded as ordinary fe- 
male offences, such as pleasure in dress, love of admira- 
tion, giddy devotion to amusement, and the lil?:e,but that 

* Mgr. Luquet says lie refused altogether to hear her con- 
fession. This seems highly improbable, and is not borne out 
by other accounts. 



HER CONVERSION. 19 

none of these faults had issued in sin of any grievous 
magnitude, he might possibly be indisposed to spend 
much trouble on her. He might consider that it was 
more a case for spiritual direction. He had his own 
regular penitents ; she was a stranger, not one of his 
flock ; such guidance as she desired might be sought 
elsewhere ; and he was not minded to entrench on his 
time by adding this stray sheep to the number of those 
who made demands upon it. If this be the true ex- 
planation, it serves to account for those strange words 
of his : ' Go, you are not one of my penitents.' 

But whatever may have been the source of the chill- 
ing demeanour of this unfatherly priest, which in many 
a case might have produced most injurious effects, it is 
clear that in Anna Maria's it was a Providential cir- 
cumstance overruled for her good. She had not applied 
in the right quarter ; this was not the physician v/hom 
God had selected for her, the Good Samaritan who was 
to probe and bind up the wounds of her soul. She left 
the confessional, as may be supposed, saddened rather 
than comforted ; and certainly the reception she had 
met with was most disheartening ; it was calculated to 
create discouragement ; and discouragement is one of 
the most fatal of temptations in the spiritual course : 
it directly attacks the will, and in the feeble-minded, 
or in those whose resolve has been feeble, is apt to gain 
an easy victory. Such moments are always critical : 
an effort has been made to escape from the world's toils, 
and it has failed. It was difficult to bring the will to 
that point ; at last it consented ; and now it would fain 
break loose again and return by a kind of rebound to 
what at some sacrifice it had renounced, pleading that 
it has done all it could and holding itself exonerated 
from any fresh exertion. The world and its false liberty 



20 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

never perhaps solicit more powerfully tlian at sucli 
times, and the devil knows how to profit by the ad- 
vantage. 

Well it was for Anna Maria that she found strength 
in her faith and humility to bear up against the temp- 
tation, and to resist and triumph over it. Now she 
turned anew to God, cast herself on His mercy, and 
protested that she would seek nothing henceforth but 
His holy will. But to whom should she have recourse? 
for it was not an ordiaary confession she desired to 
make, which any priest might receive ; what she felt to 
need was one to whom she could lay bare her whole 
heart and conscience, and who would be both willing 
and able to act as her spiritual guide, While reflecting 
on this subject, she was inwardly moved to address 
herself to one of the Fathers who officiated in the 
Church of San Marcello. Amongst these Eeligious she 
would surely, she thought, be successful in finding what 
she needed. With this intention she entered the church 
one day when confessions were being heard, and, ob- 
serving one of the confessionals surrounded by a large 
number of penitents, she concluded that he who had 
attracted the confidence of so many must be a true 
fiiend of poor sinners. Accordingly she awaited her 
turn among the rest. Now it was the Servite priest, P. 
Angelo himself, who was sitting in that confessional. 
His eye singled her out among the clustering crowd, 
for he had not forgotten the woman whom he had seen 
on the Piazza of St. Peter's, and no sooner had she 
knelt down than at once, and before she began to speak, 
he said, in a voice of paternal kindness, ' Ah, you are 
come at last, soul dear to Heaven ! Courage, my daugh- 
ter ! The Lord loves you, and desires to have yoa all 
for Himself.' These words and the tone in which they 



HER LIFE OF SELF-SACRIFICE. 21 

wero pronounced were balm to poor Anna Maria's 
wounded spirit. Still slie hesitated at first to appro- 
priate them to herself; for she thought he might have 
mistaken her for one of his own penitents. P. Angelo 
hastened to reassure her, telling her that she was not 
unknown to him, and acquainting her with the intima- 
tion which he had received and which he believed had 
come from Heaven. Then Anna Maria unfolded to him 
all the secrets of her conscience and the whole story of 
her past life. What passed in the confessional on that 
memorable day, which sealed the conversion of this 
favoured soul, we know not, but its results are known. 
Anna Maria left the feet of P. Angelo with joy and 
peace in her bosom and calm serenity on her brow. 
From this day dates her entrance on the pursuit of per- 
fection, — on that heavenward path from which she Avas 
never to swerve, and on which she was to advance 
without ever casting one look behind at the world 
which she had renounced. 



CHAPTER III. 

ANNA Maria's life 6f self-sacrifice and 

MORTIFICATION. 

Conversion, as we know, may be understood either 
of the turning of the soul from the broad way of sinners 
to the road of salvation, or of the embracing a more 
perfect way of life. The life of every Christian, if he 
would keep himself in a state of grace, must be a lifo 
involving some occasional sacrifice, be it small or great. 
For, the very lowest degree of grace being incompatiblo 
with a grave offence against God, involving the guilt of 



22 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

mortal sin, tlie Christian ■who finds himself in an occa- 
sion of temptation to such offence must of necessity 
sacrifice his natural inclination or fall from grace. The 
same applies to his obedience to the precepts of the 
Church — such, for instance, as enjoin abstinence, fast- 
ing, and the like — which are, or may be, more or less 
repugnant to nature, and the observance of which con- 
sequently demands some degree of self-sacrifice. Yet 
the life of Christians generally — ascending from the 
lowest stage of worldliness and tepidity compatible 
with the existence of sanctifying grace in the soul, up 
to the higher ranks of the ordinarily pious, who aspire 
to something more excellent and really desire to please 
God, yet are by no means minded to break altogether 
with the world or to enter on a relentless conflict with 
self in every form — cannot surely be called a life of 
sacrifice. Who could give it such a name? The life 
of even good and pious Christians is often, indeed, one 
of very much comfort, in which a mild self-indulgence, 
which escapes notice because of the moderate and, 
seemingly, reasonable claims to which it restricts itself, 
has far more part than sacrifice. These pious Christians 
cannot at any rate be said to have a very hard life ; 
they can scarcely be numbered among the soldiers of 
Christ who endure hardness; they may rather be com- 
pared to those who stay by the baggage, who may pos- 
sibly have to fight, and hope that they are prepared 
for such a contingency, but whose ordinary service, as 
a matter of fact, is not very trying to fiesh and blood. 
The life of the perfect, or of one who ardently aspires 
after perfection, is, however, an abiding life of sacrifice, 
realising fully the injunction given by St. Eemigius to 
the first Christian king of France, when he bade him 
cast away his idols, if he would be converted and re- 



\ HER LIFE OF SELF-SACRIFICE. 23 

ceive the grace of baptism. * Burn,' lie said to Clovis, 
'what thou hast adored, and adore what thou hast 
"burned/ 

Anna Maria's conversion was of this character. 
True, she was not emerging from paganism, like Clovis, 
nor was she rising from the depths of sin and moral 
degradation, like Magdalen; it was rather that, like 
Ignatius Loyola, and so many other glorious saints of 
whose conversions we have read, she was escaping 
from that worldly region whose atmosphere is laden 
with pride, with the love of pleasure, with ambition, 
and with all those passions which, freely indulged, de- 
stroy souls, and the very inhaling of which is deleteri- 
ous to the life of grace. Like them, she had foresworn 
neither the faith nor the love of virtue, but she had 
been every day offering her little grain of incense to 
those divinities which the world worships, frivolous 
vanity and idle dissipation. The fervent convert now 
burned these idols and cast their ashes to the winds. 
She broke completely with the past, in order to begin 
a life of terrible vengeance upon herself for the faults 
of her youth. Grace had poured a flood of light into 
her conscience, and in its bright effulgence she had 
discerned the ruins which sin had made in heart and 
mind ; and so, without delay, she commenced a ruth- 
less war against self in every form. She took the 
scourge in her hand to drive out everything that dese- 
crated the temple of God within her ; and, as sin enters 
first by the door of the senses, it was on them she made 
her first attack. On returning home after her confes- 
sion, she seized the opportunity of finding herself alone 
to prostrate herself before the Crucifix and inilict on 
herself a cruel flagellation. N^ot content with this, she 
struck her head repeatedly against the floor, exclaim- 



24 V. AXXA MARIA TAIGI. 

ing, ^ Satisfy to God, impure head, for so many frivo- 
lous ornaments vritli which you have dared to lade 
yourself/ This act of penance she renewed on several 
occasions, and more than once with such violence as to 
cause the blood to gush from her mouth. P. Angelo, 
however, forbade her to continue this practice, enjoin- 
ing her to restrain her mortifications within the bounds 
of discretion. Yet the fervour which had prompted 
these indiscreet excesses was very pleasing to God, as 
was proved by the extraordinary supernatural graces 
which she received on the very threshold of her con- 
version, and in particular by one which may be con- 
sidered as unparalleled in the annals of the saints, the 
appearance of a luminous disc resembling a sun, in which 
she contemplated, as in a mirror, the past, present, and 
future, and which she was to behold without intermis- 
sion for the remaining forty-seven years of her life. 
She also received shortl}^ afterwards, during a vision in 
which our Lord appeared to her, the gift of healing by 
the touch of her hand; she was endowed, moreover, 
with the power of reading the secret thoughts of others 
and of discerning their spiritual state ; she had con- 
tinual divine locutions, and exhibited in her person all 
those phenomena of raptures and ecstasies which so 
frequently attend the contemplations of advanced saints, 
but are rarely to be met with in persons who have but 
just entered on the road of perfection. 

If, however, the life of all who aspire to perfection 
is a life of sacrifice, a life animated throughout, and 
distinguished more particularly in its outset, by a strong 
spirit of penance, it was peculiarly so in the case of 
Anna Maria, who was of the number of those souls 
specially called to offer themselves to God as victims 
of expiation. She was deeply conscious from the first 



HEB LIFE OP SELF-SACRIFICE. 25 

that it was to tlie life of a victim thus offering itself as 
a holocaust that she was invited and urged ; and so 
she told her confessor immediately after her conversion. 
Accordingly, we shall find the spirit of sacrifice giving 
its colouring to the work of grace within her soul dur- 
ing her whole life, and imparting its peculiar character 
to her sanctity. The Holy Spirit is wont to communi- 
cate to a soul which turns fervently towards God a 
secret intimation of its particular attraction. This first 
grace is usually the foundation of all the future destinies 
of the soul, the seed, so to say, of all future graces. 
Divine Wisdom has unerringly chosen for it the path 
and the mould in which it is to sanctify itself ; and 
the chief office of a director is to ascertain this attrac- 
tion, in order to encourage his penitent to be faithful 
to it and to help to remove all obstacles out of the way 
which might impede the operation of the Heavenly 
Director. For God has His particular aim and design, 
and after that pattern He will perfect the soul, and 
after no other. If it choose to follow its own devices, 
it will lose its way, and will be cast aside, at least as 
respects perfection. Hence the incalculable importance 
of fidelity to our particular grace. 

Anna Maria's first act was, with her husband's con- 
sent, to put away all her vain ornaments, and to dress 
herself in common and coarse clothing. In his depo- 
sition Domenico thus speaks of this change : — -^ About 
a year after our marriage, the servant of God, being 
still in the flower of her youth, quitted for the love of 
God all the ornaments she had worn : the rings, the 
earrings, necklaces, &c., and adopted the most ordinary 
dress she could. She asked my permission, and I will- 
ingly granted it, seeing that she was wholly given up 
to piety.' He also allowed her to become a Tertiary of 



26 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

the Trinitarians, and she wore their habit under her 
other clothes ; but of her affiliation to this Order we 
shall speak hereafter. Along with worldly habiliments, 
worldly amusements, visits, and even walks of simple 
recreation were also entirely given up. These last, how- 
ever, she rather avoided, when she could, on the plea 
of family and household work or the fatigue occasioned 
thereb}^, than absolutely refused; and she was induced 
subsequently to relax somewhat on this point out of 
complaisance for her husband and children. 

The promptitude and generosity with w^hich Anna 
Maria responded to the call of God is one of the most 
striking features in her conversion. She understood 
from the first the greatness of the gift offered to her : 
^ Si selves donum Dei^ said the Saviour to the woman 
of Samaria, and how few indeed know the extent or 
greatness of the gift offered to them ! we do not mean 
only the value of the gift which we all receive in our 
redemption and regeneration in Christ, but that par- 
ticular gift which God has reserved for each of us, and 
which He does not fail secretly to proffer to the soul, 
wooing it thereby to that conformity with His Son for 
which He has predestined it. Although this gift is not 
in each case equally great, yet, as proportioned to the 
capacity of the individual soul, it is ever great and 
magnificent, like all the gifts of God. He gives 
liberally and abundantly to all, as St. James* tells us ; 
and, if in many cases it seem otherwise, it is not be- 
cause He is wanting in liberality, but because souls do 
not deal liberally with Him : they are grudging, nig- 
gardly, mistrustful, incredulous, and fail to recognise 
' the day of their visitation.' They are not * straitened' 
in God, but in their * own bowels/ as the Apostle'j* u]3- 
* i. 5. t 2 Cor. vi. 12. 



HEU MOBTIFIOATIONS. 27 

braided the Corintliians with being. Hence it is that 
many Christians take more pains to resist God's grace 
than would be sufficient to yield most blessed results, 
if bestowed in the right direction. ISTot that they seem 
to themselves to be acting thus — far from it ; they are 
striving perhaps hard enough to do something, but it is 
not what God would have them do ; they are striving 
to sanctify themselves according to their own notions 
and their own tastes. And. so the gift of God is 
wasted on them, and sooner or later the offer is with- 
drawn ; v/hile of those who accept their gift, too many 
do so only after long hesitations or, what is still worse, 
never fully and unreservedly. Eut Anna Maria ac- 
cepted the Divine offer at once and with a magnani- 
mous spirit ; and God was liberal to her beyond all 
imagination, as will abundantly ajopear when we come 
to speak of her supernatural gifts. 

We have already seen how, after her confession to 
P. Angelo, she returned strong in the grace she had re- 
ceived that day in the sacrament of penance^ and began 
to make instant war upon nature by a severe flagella- 
tion and other self-inflictions, which the prudent con- 
fessor thought good to retrench. He allowed her, 
however, the use of the discipline, hair-shirt, and iron 
chain. After the sacrifice of her ornaments, she pro- 
ceeded to the curtailment of all that could minister 
gratification to the taste, and restricted herself simply . 
to what was. necessary for the support of life. To the 
fasts prescribed by the Church she added from devotion 
others of her own choice ; and what fasts were hers ! 
* I observed,' says her husband in his deposition, * that 
she mortified herself in the matter of food more on 
Fridays than on other days — she, who habitually ate 
no more than a grasshopper. She did the same on 



28 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

Saturdays, in honour of the Madonna.' In short, days 
of simple abstinence were by her converted into days 
of rigid fasting. She often undertook, besides, extraor- 
dinary fasts of forty days' duration, or longer ; some- 
times in order to obtain some grace which regarded the 
public benefit, or again for the conversion of some par- 
ticular person, or for the relief of the suffering souls in 
Purgatory. All she took at such times was a little 
soup at midday. 

Her ordinary practice, when not fasting, was, after 
returning from church in the morning, to drink a small 
cup of coffee, to which she would add a little bread, 
although the latter was often omitted. At dinner a 
few spoonfuls of soup and a mere scrap of houilli suf- 
ficed her. Towards the close of her life, following a 
divine intimation, she entirely abstained from fiesh- 
meat. As she always stood during meal-time, waiting 
from humility on the others, she was able to evade 
notice as to what she ate, or, rather, did not eat. She 
had thus the opportunity of practising many little 
mortifications to the palate without attracting notice : 
for instance, in flavouring the soup with cheese, as is 
done in Italy, she would remember to forget — if we 
may use such an expression — her own portion, and so 
would take it unseasoned. In the evening, when the 
work of the day was over — and it must be borne in 
mind that it is question here of the habitual sustenance 
of a woman whose life was one of constant toil — her 
supper consisted of a little salad or, at most, a slender 
portion out of a dish of small fish, such as the Eoman 
poor are in the habit of buying, when there happened 
to be any on the frugal board ; and even from this 
scanty allowance she would subtract something for 
the poor. She always reserved for herself what was 



HER MORTIFICATIONS. 29 

worst, placing the best before her husband and chil- 
dren, or giving it to the girls who helped her in her 
work, and, for a still greater mortification, would often 
eat what was no longer fresh. This practice was after- 
wards noticed by her children ; indeed, it is chiefly to 
the testimony of her surviving husband and daughter, 
given on oath, that we are indebted for these par- 
ticulars, which she would herself have been the last to 
publish. ' My mother,' said one of her daughters, ' used 
to keep for herself some bits of meat, which she would 
eat after the lapse of two or three days, in spite of all 
we said to her, telling her that this meat was spoilt, 
for it smelt, and had begun to corrupt.' Another eye- 
witness adds, ' I have seen her take a piece of cod fish 
which was turned bad, and chew it along with the 
bones, giving it afterwards to the animals when she had 
conquered the repugnance of nature.' 

And these repugnances were strong in her, as is 
common in the case of lively, ardent, and sensitive 
temperaments, whose likings and dislikings are vivid 
in conformity with their physical constitution. Indeed, 
before her conversion, Anna Maria showed a marked 
taste for delicacies, and jDarticularly for sweet things. 
Domenico, who waited at table in the Chigi family, was 
often allowed to have a remnant of pastrj^, or other 
tempting viand, after the dinner was over ; and, know- 
ing that she was partial to these good tilings, he used 
to take some home to his wife, who partook of them 
with pleasure, their own means not allowing them to 
indulge in what are generically styled ' treats.' Eut one 
who enters on a path of vigorous mortification, such as 
that which Anna Maria had embraced, has j)ut away 
' treats' for ever. Domenico did not in the least under- 
stand so radical a change, and continued, when he had 



30 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

the opportunity, to cater for his wife's predilections as 
before. Anna Maria had no difficulty in receiving with 
a smile what was thus laid before her, and in thanking 
her husband affectionately for his recollection of her. 
Moreover, to satisfy him, she would taste a morsel, just 
enough, in fact, to tempt her own dormant appetite, 
that she might the more effectually mortify it by refus- 
ing it further gratification, while avoiding at the same 
time the infliction of any disappointment on Domenico. 
She would then begin talking of something else, with 
the view of turning away his attention, and leave the 
pastry where it vras on the table, as if intending to 
return and finish it ; but later, when the circumstance 
was forgotten, she would take and give it to some one 
else in the house. 

Anna Maria was by temperament estremely subject 
to thirst, which hard work and the fervour of an Italian 
summer would aggravate to intensity ; nevertheless, in 
order to mortify herself, she was in the habit of never 
drinking save at meals, and then with extreme modera- 
tion. Even the little she took she would merely sip, 
never allowing herself the sort of draught which alone 
satisfies when, not only the mouth is parched, but the 
whole system langu.ishes from thirst, and its satisfac- 
tion is felt to be a craving of necessity rather than the 
deshe for an indulgence. After drinking a drop or two, 
she would put down her glass and retiu^n to waiting on 
her husband and children. But often and often she 
would not allow herself even a single drop during the 
meal. Children have sharp eyes and keen observation, 
and little Maria would sometimes spy her out and be- 
tray her. ' Papa,' she would say, * see. Mama has 
never drunk anything;' while her mother hastened to 
silence the child by reminding her that she ought not 



HER MORTIFICATIONS. 31 

to make remarks upon what other people did. When 
her husband poured out some wine for her she would 
accept it cheerfully, hut took care to mix with it a good 
deal of water, saying that this made it much more 
wholesome. Sometimes Domenico would detect her in 
the act of putting down her glass after first raising it 
to her lips, and reprehend her for this conduct. * What 
are you doing there/ he would say, ' playing with your 
glass 1 why don't you drink 1 Drink at once ;' and then 
with a smile she would obey him. 

In the great heats of summer, he would occasionally 
bring his wife some sherbet or ice to refresh her. These 
things had been once very acceptable to her, nor would 
she absolutely refuse them now. Ever grateful to all 
who showed her kindness, she failed not to thank her 
husband for any token of affection, but she was also 
ingenious in devices to avoid profiting by it. Thus, 
raising the ice to her lips, she would hastily cry out, 
' 0, how cold it is !' and put it down again. Domenico, 
to whom the allowing ice to melt in order to render it 
palatable seemed sheer folly, would shrug his shoulders 
and, in his rough, coarse way — for with all his good 
qualities he was rough and coarse, and had by no means 
a good temper — would exclaim, 'What an idiot you 
are ! You understand nothing about anything.' Pro- 
bably, as time went on, her husband ceased to interfere 
with her mode of life in this respect, for P. Pilippo di 
San Mcola, a Carmelite Father, who was her confessor 
for thirty years, and who made his de]3osition a year and 
a half after her death, states that he had known her 
pass whole weeks without drinking. 

Such, then, were Anna Maria's stratagems for sub- 
duing nature in res2)ect botli of quantity and quality of 
food. She used to say, ' Ho who desires to love God 



32 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

must mortify himself at all times and in all things, but 
chiefly in eating and drinking, because the indulgence 
of sensuality in this matter was the beginning of all 
our ills in the garden of delights/ Another of her re- 
marks was, * The more greedy the ass is' — by the ass 
she meant the body — ' the more needful is it to draw 
the rein tight.' She used to urge strongly on her 
children, and on persons who asked her advice, the 
practice of taking nothing out of meal-times. This was 
a piece of self-indulgence which she sternly resisted in 
her own case ; and, trifling as such sacrifices may sound 
— albeit, implying as they do a daily habit, they de- 
mand in many cases a greater amount of self-denial 
than may at first sight appear — her Divine Sj^ouse 
deigned to give her special praise for this very act of 
mortification. He told her that although this denial of 
the appetite may seem to be nothing, yet God is much 
pleased with it, and that whosoever would enjoy the 
sweetness of divine communications and tranquillity of 
mind must of necessity mortify his palate ; v/hereas he 
who satisfies his gluttony renews on his part, so far as 
in him lies, the bitterness of the Saviour's Passion, who, 
amongst the other sufferings and insults Avhich He en- 
dured from the impious, had to receive their horrible 
spittle in His divine mouth. 

Anna Maria's mortification extended to all her other 
senses. She guarded her eyes so closely that, as Do- 
menico afterwards testified, notwithstanding her natural 
vivacity, she never looked in the face of any man save 
his, her husband's. The strictest modesty presided 
over her every gesture, whether she were engaged in 
the common cares of her house or, as in after years was . 
frequently the case, lying on a bed of torturing pain. 
' In the midst of her roughest household work,' he said, 



HER MORTIFICATIONS. 33 

* she was dressed as modestly as if she were going to ap- 
pear in public. In her sufferings she maintained such 
reserve and circumspection that she seemed like a Ke- 
ligious.' And another deponent said, ' She always kept 
her eyes modestly cast down, yet without affectation, 
when conversing with men ; one might have imagined 
that one was talking to a young girl, not to a married 
woman/ All this was the fruit of that mortification 
which guarded every avenue of the senses. Over 
her tongue she exercised the same control. ^Not only 
did she not utter one word which could injure the 
reputation of any one, hut she would not suffer in her 
presence any depreciating remarks. . Many a time did 
she warn her children to correct themselves of the fault 
of criticising this and that person, although they might 
do it from pure thoughtlessness, without any tincture 
of malice, or even from an impulse of zeal, or other ap- 
parently worthy motive, or with the view of seeking 
advice. For she knew well how many are the deceits 
which nature practises that it may escape from bondage ; 
and no member is so difficult to tame as the tongue. 

E'ot content with thus keeping all her senses in 
continual subjection, she did not even allow herself the 
amount of rest which seemed absolutely necessary to 
enable her to accomplish her various duties. She con- 
sidered, her body to be a rebelhous slave, who will 
submit to the dominion of the soul only so long as it 
feels the weight of its chains, and so she tasked its 
strength to the utmost, by night as well as by day. 
' My mother,' says one of her daughters, 'scarcely slept 
at all ; she had the habit of staying up to pray, and, 
as my father used not to come home until the night 
was far advanced, not perhaps till two or three o'clock 
in the morning, as soon as my mother heard him coming 

1) 



34 V. ANNA MAHIA TATGI. 

slie would get into bed to avoid being scolded, as she 
would liave been had he found her still up.' Do- 
nienico, however, in fact not unfrequently surprised 
her, for in his deposition he says that often, when re- 
turning from his service at the Chigi palace towards 
three o'clock in the morning, he would find his wife 
still praying before the Madonna. If she was late up 
she was also on foot early ; for another of her daughters 
testified that her mother generally rose before dawn 
to go to church, and that she habitually slept no more 
than two hours, j^either did she make up for this de- 
ficiency of repose at night by the daily siesta which is 
commonly taken by people of all classes in southern 
countries; for all the witnesses unite in saying that, 
while the rest of the famil}?- were sleeping after the 
mid-day repast, the servant of God used to profit by 
this quiet opportunity to read and meditate. To all 
these privations we must add the many austerities which 
she practised secretly; the disciplines, the hair-shirts, 
iron chains, and other instruments of penance, by means 
of which she contrived to give her body no more respite 
from suffering than she allowed it from fatigue. 

It may, indeed, seem matter for wonder whence she 
derived the energy of soul, not to say the physical 
strength, to maintain so ceaseless and pitiless a combat 
with nature. How Vv^as it possible that she should not 
have broken down under so heavy a burden ? There is 
but one reply. Strength is from the Lord, strength of 
soul as well as strength of body. The former she was 
daily renewing by intimate converse with God ; her 
whole soul, open to, receive divine impressions, was per- 
petually imbibing the superhuman force which sustained 
her in her hol}^ purposes ; while the latter was minis- 
tered to her in like manner by Him who had inspired 



HER MORTIFICATIONS. 35 

those purposes. God who gives us to will, gives ns 
also to do when He so pleases. Ifc v/as not her mere 
assiduity in prayer, however, whicli was the source of 
her strength and perseverance ; it was the purity of in- 
tention and perfect interior mortification Vvdth v/hich 
she drew nigh to God which caused the rays of divine 
grace to penetrate with such warmth and power. There 
was no mist between her soul and the sun of grace, for 
she had exercised the same vigilant repression over her 
interior as over her exterior senses. She watched her 
imagination to check its w^anderings, her will to hinder 
it from accepting any hurtful satisfaction or indulging 
in any complacency, her native impetuosity and heat 
of temper to tame it down to meekness and gentleness, 
h.er heart that it might never take delight in the love 
of creatures, or that, at least, it might love them in God 
and for God alone. 

This inward conflict is not so striking to the ob- 
server, and at first sight does not seem so cruel as the 
exterior mortification. So we are apt to judge, never 
perhaps having tried either to any great extent ; but 
saints, and spiritual writers who have gathered up the 
experience of saints, tell us that it is , far otherwise. 
Eor in the one case the soul is fighting with the body, 
and undoubtedly the soul is the strongest, and may 
even yield a little sometimes without undergoing 
defeat ; in the other, it is fighting with itself, and has 
itseli for its enemy. To keep up this struggle, which 
admits oi no truce if we Avould come off victorious, re- 
quires an unrelaxing energy, from which few there are 
who do not recoil. Yet even the thorough mortifica- 
tion of the exterior senses cannot be achieved without 
a corresponding subduing ol the interior. This double 
mortification, when effected, which it can only be with 



36 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

divine charity for its motive and accompaniment, is a 
most sure means of drawing down the choicest gifts 
from above ; for it is a perfect holocaust of self, and 
may be compared to that of Elias, which, when laid on 
the altar of God, was so acceptable that the fire from 
Heaven descended to consume it. 

Anna Maria had well understood the price required 
for the purchase of perfect love, and she had, as we 
learn from the processes, made a formal pact with her 
will never to permit herself any gratification of the 
senses, or to take any complacency, not merely in what 
was forbidden or simply dangerous, but in what was 
allowable and even innocent. She adhered to her re- 
solution, and had her mind continually applied to 
resisting her inclinations. ^To acquire the love of 
God,' she said, * we must always be rowing against the 
current, and never cease counteracting our own will.' 
By constantly following this rule herseK, she had not 
only got the mastery over all her passions, inclinations, 
tastes, fears, repugnances, but had arrived at superna- 
turalising every interior movement of her soul. How 
rare is such a victory over self we need scarcely say, 
nor how arduous to obtain. To offer our external 
actions to God is nothing to this ; although any one 
w^ho practises a little inward scrutiny will confess that 
even into actions thus consecrated human motives are 
very prone to insinuate themselves, or, if not human 
motives, at any rate the human spirit. How many 
actions done for God can scarcely be said to be done in 
God ; but, if the purification of our intention in sepa- 
rate external acts be a difiicult undertaking, how much 
more the consecration of the secret interior acts and 
movements of the difi'erent faculties of the soul ! If 
we doubt this, we have only, on any given occasion 



HER MORTIFICATIONS. 37 

' when we have not been engaged in some direct act of 
devotion, to recall what have been the springs of our 
thoughts and feelings for the last half hour or so, and 
to consider how much of all that has passed within us, 
harmless or even good in a way as it may have been, 
can be referred to supernatural motives or regarded as 
the response to supernatural promptings. Again, how 
often shall we be conscious of having^ been * rowin^^: 
against the current' 1 Drifting with the stream would 
be a much better description of our habitual condition 
when not engaged in active reflection ; and well it is 
with us if we so much as keep a look-out for rocks and 
shoals a-head. 

Anna Maria maintained a very strict and special 
watch over all her natural sympathies and attractions. 
Every one is sensible of being often more or less the 
subject of drawings towards particular individuals, 
drawings for which we cannot always fully account^ 
for they seem by no means precisely proportioned to 
.respective merits or even personal advantages. Such 
sympathies are part of our nature, as God has made it ; 
they are therefore in themselves quite blameless ; but 
it is scarcely necessary to say that she who was so 
jealous to preserve her whole heart for God never 
either yielded to or favoured any such mere growth of 
the natural heart. Even when these sympathies had 
for their sole spring the glory of God, and drew her 
towards those who were actuated by the same pure 
motive, she moderated the satisfaction she experienced 
by practising much reserve ; on the contrary, if it was 
question of persons towards whom she felt some 
natural antipathy, or who had censured or offended 
her, she behaved with great cordiality and affection of 
manner ; always, however, keeping witliin the limits 



38 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

of that prudence, moderation, and modesty Tvhicli re- 
gulated her Avhole "bearing. But more than all this : 
Anna Maria knew how to mortify herself even in 
spiritual things, and when, after receiving Communion, 
her soul was plunged in an ocean of delight, from that 
overflowing sensible sweetness of which in the first 
years of her conversion God was so liberal to her, she 
w^ould, after making her thanksgiving, refuse herself 
the joy of remaining longer at her devotions and break 
off, in order to disappoint nature of its satisfaction. 
If, on the other hand, dryness, weariness, and repug- 
nances assailed her, then, in order to conquer herself, 
she would prolong her prayer and, with it, her suffer- 
ings ; and God rewarded this heroic generosity of His 
servant by a continual increase of the gifts and graces 
which He lavished upon her. 

It must not be supposed that in v/hat we have said 
of the mortifications practised by this holy woman we 
have exhausted the subject. Far. from it; her life was, 
in fact, so peculiarly a life of self-immolation, that 
every act, exterior and interior, was imbued, so to say, 
with the spirit of mortification and sacrifice even to 
the last hour of her existence. What we have here 
stated may serve, liowevcr, as an introductory prelude, 
striking the key-note of all that follows in the detail of 
her spiritual course. 



89 

CHAPTER IV. 

ANNA MARIxi's BEUAVIOUR AS A WIFE. 

Had Anna Maria been free from the ties of marriage, 
there can be little doubt but that her attraction would 
have led her to the religious life. What her vocation 
would have been it would be idle to inquire, for voca- 
tion is not a matter of our own taste nor even of our 
attraction ; the attraction being not unfrequently sent 
where the vocation (which is God's call) does not exist. 
For vocation is not even fitness (as we understand the 
word), with, which it is often confounded in common 
parlance. It is God's call — no more, and no less. To 
ask, then, w^hat Anna Maria's vocation would have 
been, had she not been bound by her marriage, is to 
ask what it would have been if it had been other than 
it was. lor her union with Domenico Taigi bore all 
the marks of being designed for her by Divine Provi- 
dence. It was entered into after prayer and with an 
entire reference to God's will, and she had never, at 
the time she contracted it, been inwardly moved or 
drawn to embrace a higher state. God, in fine, we 
may well believe, purposed to set before the world in 
this chosen soul an example of the highest degree of 
sanctity, not only in the married state — such examples 
had already been given in all ages of the Church — but 
amidst w^hat would be generally regarded as the vul- 
garest cares and the homeliest surroundings. 

*It is sufficient' (says P. Bouffier, one of Anna 
Maria's biographers) ^ to read the decree of the Eoman 
Congregation to foel convinced that this mission was 
special and altogether providential. God willed to use 
Anna Maria Taigi as an instrument for displaying His 



40 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

wisdom and power in our days and giving to our age a 
great and solemn lesson.' This age of ours is remark- 
able for tlie arrogant self-complacency with which it 
regards and boasts of its wisdom, science, and progress ; 
' and behold' (says the same writer), ^ God, to confound 
these proud worshippers of reason and progress, chooses 
that which is lowest and meanest ; He takes by the 
hand an obscure woman, the wife of a man of toil; 
and upon one in this lowest stage of the social scale, in 
this abject and despised condition, as the world esteems 
it. He showers down His favours with an abundance, 
a liberality, a prodigality, which fills with wonder even 
; those who are best skilled in penetrating the secrets of 
' God's dealings ; and because this poor and unknown wo- 
man was faithful to the voice which called her, God re- 
plenishes her with His gifts, loads her with His favours, 
inundates her with His lights, and accords her privi- 
leges so extraordinary as to stupefy with astonishment 
all who are cognisant of them.' For Anna Maria was 
not only a miracle of sanctity, she was also a miracle of 
heavenly illumination ; she was privileged to read, as 
it were, in the mirror of the Eternal Wisdom, and 
thence to derive a knowledge and an insight into 
things of earth as well as of heaven which puts to shame 
all the boasted science of the world. She became in 
the hands of God, ' the soul of her country and of her 
time ;' she was constituted and offered herself as a ' vic- 
tim of expiation;' she was at once ' the rampart of the 
Hoh^ See, the oblation of sinners, the consolation of 
the afflicted, the succour of the poor, the guide of the 
learned, and the counsellor of priests ; she was a theo- 
logian, a doctor and mother in Israel, a seer of the 
ancient days, an inspired proj)het. a true wonder- 
worker r Such are the enthusiastic terms in which 



HER BEHAVIOUR AS A WIFE. 41 

one of her biographers speaks of her, nor will they 
seem exaggerated to those who are conversant with her 
life. 

Yet, notwithstanding all her exalted gifts, it must 
be remembered that her state of life in the Christian 
order was not exalted. It was the married state, which, 
although honourable, has neither the dignity of the 
virgin state nor that of the religious by profession, 
which latter she never had the opportunity of em- 
bracing, her husband being destined to survive her. 
Her position, then, was always that of a wife and a 
mother, and never rose above it. IsTow the duties of our 
state in life, however humble it may be, take the pre- 
cedence of all others ; and we need scarcely observe 
that had Anna Maria failed ever so little in these duties, 
or had Domenico and her other relatives and friends 
who gave their testimony on oath intimated any de- 
ficiency on her part in the performance of them, the 
process for her beatification would have been closed at 
once. In vain might she have gazed at the ^ sun of 
divine wisdom' for seven-and-forty years, in vain might 
her hand have had the gift of healing, and her tongue 
have uttered prophecies, she never could have received 
the title of Venerable nor have laid any claim to the 
honours of sanctity. For gifts such as these, which 
are called by theologians gratis data, considered apart 
from the use made of them by the recipient, do not 
add to his merit. They are bestowed for the benefit of 
others, and might even be conferred on one who was 
not in a state of grace. "' Caiphas prophesied ; so did 

* The gifts ' gratis data' are thus defined by St. Thomas : 

' Gratia gratis data ordinatur ad hoc, quod homo alteri co- 

■ operetur ut reducatur ad Deum.' And elsewhere he says : ' Quia 

non datur ad hoc, ut homo ipse per earn justificetur, sed potius 



42 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

Balaam ; and even his ass saw a vision and was giftud 
with speech to declare it. True, God does not ordi- 
narily impart these gifts save to persons high in His 
favour, certainly not in any permanent way; yet, since, 
abstractedly speaking, they are not incompatible with 
the absence of sanctifying grace, it is evident that they 
do not in themselves increase the merit of those who 
enjoy them, or necessarily argue their possession of great 
sanctity. 

Eefore proceeding, then, to sublimer subjects, we 
shall consider Anna Maria in her humble sphere of 
wife and mother of a family and in the perfect fulfil- 
ment of the duties which that sphere entails. Among 
the twenty-one witnesses who had been personally ac- 
quainted with the servant of God, and who gave their 
testimony as recorded in the processes, the surviving 
members of her own family hold an important position. 
Domenico Taigi, then ninety-one years of age, was of 
the number, as were two of the daughters, Sofia and 
Maria, a daughter-in-law, and a grand-daughter. Do- 
menico's evidence is peculiarly interesting, on account 
of his simplicity and evident sincerity, as also on ac- 
count of the precious details of her domestic virtues 
which he alone Y\^ould have been so fully competent to 
give, and to which, in fact, he rendered such signal 
testimony. It is remarkable that this good man, im- 
pressed as he Avas with the eminent perfection exhibited 
by his wife, never apprehended, till she was dead, that 
she was a saint in the technical sense of that appella- 



ut ad justificationem alterius cooperetur.' L. 2, Qu. cxi. 
Art. 1,4. So also St. Bonaventura : ' Nota, qnod gi'atia gratis 
data communiter a theologis dicitnr gi'atia, quae bonis et malis 
potest esse communis, et j)lurificatur in homine secundum mu- 
nificentiam largitoris.' [Centiloq. P. iii. s. 35.) 



HER BEHAVIOUR AS A WIPE, 43 

tion. A veil was upon his eyes as long as she lived. 
It may help us to realise the possibility of such blind- 
ness on his part if we consider the nature of the man, 
and compare it with that of his wife. He was (as has 
been said) rough, coarse, dull, and ordinary in every 
sense of the term. She was delicate, thoughtful, refined, 
sensitive. Viewed both intellectually and morally, and 
without reference to her exalted sanctity, she was there- 
fore immeasurably his superior. When two persons 
thus unequally matched live in close companionship, 
the superior mind will take the measure of the inferior, 
but the inferior will see only a certain proportion of the 
superior. He will not know as he is known. Much 
soars above his ken, much lies far beneath the reach of 
his perceptions. If this be true of natural gifts, much 
more is it the case in regard to spiritual endowments. 
Domenico, while quite competent to read the virtuous 
and admirable results of holiness exhibited in his com- 
panion's conduct, was unable to appreciate the full 
merit or character of very many of her actions. ]N"either 
his intellectual nor his spiritual senses were sufficiently 
alive for this purpose. He had a glimpse, and little 
more than a glimpse, of the fact that she possessed cer- 
tain supernatural gifts. She herself never spoke on 
these subjects to him, she never told him of the mys- 
terious sun which she continually beheld, and, when 
occasionally, in spite of herself, she fell into an ecstasy 
in his presence, so obtuse were the perceptions of this 
worthy man, as we shall find, that he attributed these 
seizures to drowsiness or some other bodily affection. 
As for her instruments of penance, they were not found 
till after her death. 

But if there were reasons peculiarly applicable to 
Domenico why ho should have failed to perceive that 



44 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

his wife was a saint, we may add, as a general remark, 
that sanctity tends in its more perfect developments to 
simplicity. From the first it aims at this virtue, or, 
rather, at this harmony and blending of the virtues, 
which results from the dueness of their proportion, and 
is the special fruit of humility and singlenesss of pur- 
pose. But simpHcity, from the very unassumingness 
of its outward form, has a sort of resemblance to what 
we call the commonplace. Speaking of St. Philip l^eri, 
Father Faber describes the effect which he might have 
produced upon a foreigner who, hearing of his eminent 
holiness, had gone to see him : he might have only 
carried away the impression that he was undoubtedly 
a very good man, but a man rather to love than revere 
— kind-hearted, zealous, and a little eccentric, but other- 
wise commonplace enough. ' Yet,' he says, * it was 
the very wonderfulness of his sanctity which caused 
him to look so commonplace ;' and then he subjoins 
this startling observation : ' Should we know a saint if 
we met one ? I doubt it. This is sad to think, but 
very profitable.'''^ 

An inequality in mental powers and cultivation, 
such as we have described between Anna Maria and 
her husband, would alone have proved a considerable 
trial in married life, but Domenico moreover had a 
temper very difficult to deal with : he was extremely 
prone to being what is vulgarly called ^put out' for 
very slight causes, and, when he was in this humour, 
would show it in some such unpleasant fashion as we 
might expect in a clownish peasant. Besides being 
irritable, he was also obstinately wedded to his own 
views and ideas. When once he had taken up some 
notion it stuck to him like his skin. Argument would 
* Notes on Doctrinal and Spiritual Subjects, vol. i. p. 387. 



HER BEHAVIOUR AS A WIFE. 45 

have been wasted upon him ; indeed, the least objec- 
tion would throw him into a passion, and contradic- 
tion, if persevered in, made him quite intractable. But 
his wife neither argued with him nor contradicted him. 
She met his exacting temper and ungracious behaviour 
with an unvarying and unalterable patience. She al- 
ways yielded, and when he was angry she was silent. 
But her silence was far from being of that offensive 
kind which is sometimes more irritating than a shawp 
reply, betraying as it does, under the affectation of self- 
restraint and humility, a certain latent sense of superior- 
ity and a covert reproach. Anna Maria's silence was 
sweet and soothing. When her husband exhibited these 
tempers her countenance would wear an open and frank 
expression of cordiality; there would be an eloquent 
pleading in her looks, which gave no offence because it 
conveyed no censorious meaning, and betrayed only the 
desire to win back a smile to his lips. And in this 
she was usually successful. Domenico, in the absence 
of opposition, would cool down and regain his equan- 
imity, and then the fear of having distressed his com- 
panion, always so good and gentle to him, would make 
him feel a little remorseful and ashamed of himself ; 
for Domenico, it must be said, had by no means a bad 
heart. On such occasions, when he had been finding 
fault with something unjustly, he would say, ^Well, 
at any rate, do as you wish ; as for me, I understand 
nothing about the matter.' Anna Maria, with exquisite 
tact, would now take care not to show any conscious- 
ness that he had been defeated and had yielded, but in 
her most caressing voice would say, ^As for me, I should 
do so and so ; what do you think ? are you satisfied V 
And then Domenico tvas satisfied, and sunshine was 
restored to the happy home. 



46 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI, 

Nor was Donienico insensible to this gentle bearing 
of his wife. By his own confession it had a favourable 
influence on his temper. * I often,' he said, ' came home 
tired, out of spirits and out of humour ; she. had the 
talent of pacifying me by her affability. In short, 
she knew very v/ell how to be silent and, better still, 
how to speak when necessary.' And again, * She knew 
how to give a charitable warning, and I owe to her the 
having corrected myself of some faults ; she gave this 
advice with an incomparable sweetness and charity.' 
She also knew well how to accommodate her tastes to 
his, and with the best grace, however different they 
might be. ]N"othing was dearer to Anna Maria than 
her religious exercises ; nevertheless, if her husband 
desired the most trifling service at her hands, or wished 
her to accompany him anywhere, she would immediately 
leave her devotions. ' My wife was averse to all worldly 
pleasures,' he says, ' even such as were most allowable. 
I would sometimes say to her, " Marianna, let us go to 
such or such a place." She never evinced any disincli- 
nation, but acceded to my wishes with a sweet cheer- 
fulness : as, for example, if I wanted to go and see the 
Fantocini, or some other diversion of the kind. For 
the love of God,' he also says, ' she often refrained from 
drinking ; but if I said, ^' Marianna, drink," or, '' You 
have drunk nothing," she would smile, and obey me 
immediately. I ahvays found her as docile and submis- 
sive as a lamb.' 

But Anna Maria not only rendered the most exact 
obedience to her husband in all things, but cordially 
and sincerely looked up to him as a superior, nay, as 
an angel-guardian whom God had chosen for her. He 
was her head, and the head of the family, and, as such, 
merited interior honour as well as outward respect ; and 



HER BEHAVIOUR AS A WIFE. 47 

thus her submission was not a mere dry act of duty, but 
the expression of a genuine feeling of reverence. This 
it was which imparted to her behaviour the captivating 
charm which, rude and uncultivated as he was, had so 
powerful an effect upon him. This is clearly apparent 
from a few simple and unstudied remarks which occur 
in his deposition. It must be observed that Anna 
Maria's humble dwelling was constantly crowded with 
persons of distinction, both ecclesiastical and lay. It 
wiJl, no doubt, seem strange that such should be the 
case ; but so it was. Her eminent sanctity, her heroic 
charity to the sick and suffering, the ecstatic state into 
which she so continually passed in different churches, 
and, above all, the graces received by those who had 
recourse to her intercession and the blessings that ever 
attended on the following of her counsels, which were 
evidently drawn from some supernatural source— all 
these circumstances and other wonders connected with 
her had soon begun to attract attention to her in Eome. 
She laboured (as we shall find) to remain concealed, 
but it was not God's will that she should be hidden. 
Obscure, indeed, as respected her state He designed her 
to remain till death, but it belonged to the nature of 
the mission for which He had chosen her that the great, 
the rich, the powerful, the learned should crowd around 
her and pay homage to His sublime gifts in her, which 
they of her ov/n household, and even her husband him- 
self (as we have seen), scarcely noted. What Do- 
menico, however, did note, and what he was called in 
a special manner to record, were her homely, domestic 
virtues, and, in particular, her behaviour as a wife. Ex- 
emplary as this might have been, it would have wanted 
its crowning merit had it been lacking in that cordial 
reverence of which we have been speaking, and which 



48 V, ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

St. Paul so emphatic ally enjoins* on wives. Dome- 
nico felt and knew that he was the object of this rever- 
ence. He knew that he was first with her on all occa- 
sions. 'No pre-occnpation, not the presence of persons 
highest in rank and consideration, could for a moment 
cause him to be put by, so to say, or momentarily 
neglected. ' It happened to me frequently,' he said, 
' when coming home to change my clothes, that I found 
the house full ; immediately, she would leave everybody, 
whatever lord or prelate might be there, and hasten to 
me with the greatest cheerfulness and pleasure, that she 
might wipe my things and wait upon me, even to the 
tying of my shoe-strings. In short, she was my con- 
solation, and that of all the world.' 

It is quite affecting, we think, to find this good man 
recording these little incidents after the lapse of so 
many years. Truly nothing so much contributes to 
preserve the freshness of all love as cordial reverence, 
but most especially in married life. Many a wife loves 
as devotedly as ever, and would not think of disobey- 
ing her husband's expressed wishes, but she has ceased 
to make him the object of the delicate respect which 
the human heart so intensely appreciates, and which 
she at first instinctively paid him in return for his pre- 
ference of her. He feels the change, without perhaps 
reflecting on it, and it changes him also in his tui*n. 
Assuredly Anna Maria was actuated by motives far 
higher than that of merely preserving in her husband's 
heart the tenderness of his early affection — fraught as 
such preservation is with blessings both to husband 
and wife as well as .to the family surrounding them — for 
with her all the sweet charities of life were imbedded, 
IS it were, in a wider, deeper, and more comprehensive 
* Epli. V. 33. 



HEE BEHAVIOUR AS A WIFE. 49 

charity, which included within it all other motives, 
without extinguishing them, but also without partaking 
of their imperfections. Eespect, then, is the flower, 
the sweetness, and the guardian of love ; and it, more- 
over, generally obtains from the person who is its ob- 
ject a corresponding and, in some measure at least, a 
proportional return of respect. Domenico, it is plain, 
thoroughly respected his wife, not merely wheii she 
had become enshrined in memory and invested with 
the glory which her sanctity cast upon it, but while 
she was yet upon earth and they were associated in the 
daily familiarity of common life — that familiarity which 
proverbially ' breeds contempt,' because it so often re- 
veals littlenesses and lowering imperfections, and still 
more perhaps because we are so apt to treat each other 
as common things. If Domenico did not at the time 
manifest much deference for his wife in his words, he 
plainly showed his essential esteem of her by his acts. 
' The heart of her husband trust eth in her, and he shall 
have no need of spoils,' says Solomon,* speaking of the 
' valiant woman / and thus Domenico in his deposition 
says, ^ My house was frequented by all sorts of persons, 
and I could quite shut my eyes, for I knew what my 
wife was, how she thought, and how she acted.' And 
agaii^ ^T let her manage everything, because I saw that 
she acquitted herself perfectly of the task.' We may 
notice farther that he was able to perceive and to ap- 
preciate the moderation with which she exercised this 
domestic control, never behaving as if her husband had 
divested himself of his rightful headship in his own 
family. ' Although,' he says, ' I had given her full 
liberty, she wished to have my opinion before doing 
anything unusual.' 

* Prov. xxxi. 11. 



60 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

But perhaps his value of her is nowhere moretouch- 
ingly exhibited than in the following passage, homely 
as are the examples which he selects of her excellence, 
perhaps all the more touching on that account. ' She 
was always,' he said, ' cheerful and pleasant, yet she 
had a host of maladies ; this, however, did not hinder 
her from putting her hand to the work ; she looked to 
everything, and had hands of gold. As for me, I did 
not give a thought to anything ; she made pantaloons 
for me and over-coats. I do not well know how to 
express myself : to cut the matter short, I am old, but 
if I were young, and were minded to travel over the 
whole earth to find such a woman, it would be impos- 
sible to meet with her. I have lost a great treasure.' 
The good man seems here to be unconsciously para- 
phrasing in his simple way those w^ords of Scripture : 
' Prociil et de idtimis finihus j^reiium ejus — Ear and 
from the uttermost coasts is the price of her.' We call 
to mind, too, how it is said that ' her husband rose up 
and praised her.'* Domenico rose up and praised his 
wife ; true, he may have praised her little while they 
were living days of toil together under their lowly roof; 
such men as he are not much given to express their 
feelings — however prone they may be to relieve their 
tempers — in words ; but after she had passed to her 
home of rest in Heaven, then he praised her, and his 
praise is recorded solemnly before the vfhole world. 
He even praised her for those things for which, while 
she was alive, he had rebuked her ; as when he found 
her up late at night praying before the Madonna, evi- 
dencing thereby that his displeasure proceeded mainly 
from anxiety for her health. 

Indeed, it is but justice to Domenico to give him 
* Prov. xxxi. 10, 28. 



HER BEHAVIOUR AS A WIFE. 51 " 

credit for having interfered so little with, his wife's 
mode of life, and acceded to so many of her wishes, 
which at times appeared (as we shall have to notice 
hereafter) to run counter to his temporal interests and 
those of his indigent family. Many in his place, 
united to one whose sanctity not only far exceeded his 
own, but was of a kind which passed quite out of his 
sight both in its heights and in its depths- — many with 
an education very superior to his and a nature less 
rough and unpolished — would not have behaved with 
half his kindness and forbearance ; for, whatever may' 
be abstractedly thought of it, it is a situation which 
for obvious reasons practically tries the less perfect as 
well as the more perfect, who moreover have greater 
strength to bear up against trials. Her piety seems 
never to have irritated or chafed him, and this is really 
jno small praise ; for if the merit w^as chiefly hers, who 
knew so w^ell by her sweetness how to recommend it, 
and, above all, never to allow it to interfere Vi^ith the 
comfort of his life, still the devil seldom fails to trouble 
the peace of families by tempting the ordinary Chris- 
tian to think the extraordinary devotion with which 
he is brought into close contact excessive, and to tax 
with indiscretion the unworldliness of the perfect. If 
so tempted, Domenico deserves the praise of not having 
given place to the devil, while the unbounded and un- 
suspecting contidence which he placed in his wife, 
richly as she merited it, in matters which he could not 
thoroughly understand, and which from mere fidgeti- 
ness might have proved very offensive to him, calls 
likewise for its meed of commendation. For instance, 
the number of persons of all ranks and conditions who 
were continually resorting to his bouse, would have 
rendered many a man of his sort, who, be it observed, 



52 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGT. 

was not in the least benefited pecuniarily hj this con- 
tinual intrusion, more than fidgety. But he knew 
that his wife was always intent on gaining souls to 
God, and, giving her credit for this motive, he was 
contented to let her do as she pleased, and even to be 
ignorant of what she was doing. ^ I saw/ he says, 
' my poor little house constantly filled with persons of 
all classes, and I knew that these persons came to ask 
her advice or her prayers. I abstained, however, from 
questioning her as to their object in coming, or as to 
"what she said to them.' We think that this rude man 
displayed no inconsiderable amount of delicacy of feel- 
ing, as also of kindness, in such abstention. 

Another instance of his considerate forbearance may 
be noticed where he is speaking, in his deposition, of 
the readiness with which his wife would accompany 
him to some street show, or such-like amusement, 
although he well knew that her heart was set on far 
difi'erent objects, and quite estranged from all worldly 
diversions. Xo doubt he made this reflection to him- 
self, but, instead of being vexed and discontented, as 
selfish persons are apt to be on such occasions, or 
choosing to remain ignorant that what was a pleasure 
to him was a pain to her, he was contented C[uietly to 
forego his own satisfaction in the matter. Por he 
adds, ^Having afterwards observed that she went with 
me rather to gratify and obey me than to take her own 
share of gratification, and that consequently it must be 
a sacrifice on her part, I left her in peace.' 

Additional instances of Domenico's appreciation of 

his wife's excellence will appear when we come to make 

further extracts from his testimony in connection with 

other subjects. Our immediate purpose here has been 

ather to exhibit Anna Maria's behaviour towards her 



HER BEHAVIOUR AS A MOTHER. 53 

husband tlian to give proofs of her husband's regard 
and esteem for her. 



CHAPTEE Y. 

ANNA Maria's behaviour as a mother. 

* Seven children,' says Domenico, * were born of our 
marriage, four boys and three girls : Camillo, Ales- 
sandro, Luigi, and Pietro ; Maria, Sofia, and Mar- 
gherita. Camillo died aged 42 ; Alessandro, 35 ; 
Luigi, when a year and a half old ; and Pietro, two 
years and a month. The two younger daughters, 
Maria and Sofia, now alone survive, and live with me. 
Maria is unmarried, and Sofia is the widow of the late 
Paolo Micali of Mantua, Cameriere to his Eminence, 
Cardinal Barberini. All these children were nursed by 
the servant of God, and scarcely were they born when 
she took care to have them baptised, and she vv^as 
equally solicitous that they should be confirmed at the 
proper time. She taught them the Catechism herself, 
as well as to read and write. Morning and evening 
they assisted at our family prayers. She was con- 
tinually thanking God for His blessings, and particu- 
larly for having caused her to be born in the bosom of 
the Church ; and she taught our children to be thankful 
to God for so great a favour.' 

Further on, Domenico speaks of her assiduity in 
preparing the children for all the essential duties and 
acts of religion. We will give his own simple, un- 
adorned statement. ' The servant of God availed her- 
self of every means to instruct her sons and daughters 
for their first Confession and for their first Communion. 



54 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

She sent one of the girls to make a retreat with the 
nuns of the Divino Aniore before her first Communion ; 
the other was sent to the Bambin Gesu. The boys 
were prepared by their mother, and made their first 
Communion at the parish church. Thanks to the vigil- 
ance of the servant of God, all the children, boys and 
girls, led a regular and Christian life ; the girls fre- 
quented the sacraments once a week, the boys two or 
three times during the month. She was also careful to 
procure them the means of earning their livelihood : 
thfis one of them learned the trade of a hatter, the other 
entered the service of Mgr. Mastai, Auditor of the Apos- 
tolic Chamber.' Another witness gives similar testi- 
mony. 'The servant of God,' says this deponent, * in 
the care she took of her children was the tenderest 
of mothers. She wished the boys, on reaching a cer- 
tain age, to learn a trade suited to their condition, that 
they might be useful and good men instead of burdens 
to society. She placed them in workshops which she 
had ascertained to be conducted in a good spirit. She 
did not approve the system of our day, in which every- 
body desires to rise above his station in life, and the 
education of children is directed with a view to their 
attaining some civil office or other.' And assuredly 
the notion, however it may be expressed, whether by 
the phrase of ' rising in the world,' ^ getting on in life,' 
or ' bettering oneself,' is little in accordance with the 
spirit of the Gospel ; it cannot therefore be matter of 
surprise that it should not be approved by this pious 
woman. And yet, as this witness observes, it is the 
habitual aspiration of our age ; indeed, not to desire to 
elevate ourselves above our condition, if it be a lowly 
one, is commonly regarded as a token of a mean-spirited 
disposition, while to aim at rising above it is encouraged 



HER BEHAVIOUR AS A MOTHER. 55 

and lauded as a manly and noble enterprise. It may- 
be objected, however, that such aims and aspirations 
are inherent in human nature, and belong to no age in 
particular, although social circumstances may modify 
the form of their manifestation. This is true, in so far 
that ambition and the love of distinction are no novelty 
in the world : at all times men have been desirous of 
pushing their fortunes and elevating themselves above 
their fellows ; but in the ages when society was more 
deeply penetrated with Christian principles this desire 
displayed itself, at least among the masses, mainly in 
each individual seeking distinction by excelling in his 
own proper sphere or calling ; and, where great abili- 
ties existed, the hope and prospect of advancement 
would of course not be absent. But this is very dif- 
ferent from an impatient longing to raise ourselves 
above the rank in which we were born, and that whe- 
ther or no we possess the necessary qualifications for 
advancement. This latter ambition it is which may 
be called a special characteristic of our times, and which 
has become the source of a general unrest, the frequent 
nurse of discontent, the parent of heart-burnings and 
disappointment. 

The same witness continues, ^ As for the girls, she 
sent them to school, taking care that they should be 
accompanied by persons on whom she could rely.' The 
solicitude with which she guarded' the modesty of her 
children at the tenderest age appears in the precautions 
she adopted with regard to their sleeping arrangements. 
She considered that parents could not be too careful in 
this matter, and that it was a mistake to suppose that 
while children are what people call mere babies, they arc 
incapable of any hurtful impression. Anna Maria, small 
as was her humble home, took care to separate the place 



56 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

in which her little boys slept from that of the girk ; 
and, in order farther to inspire and foster sentiments 
of bashful modesty, she gave each child a separate bed, 
hanging curtains round it for greater privacy. Indeed, 
she carried her precautions to what some might regard 
a needless extent : but Anna Maria knew well that 
bashfulness is the protector of modesty, as modesty is 
the safeguard of innocence and purity. When the girls 
became old enough to run on errands, as the phrase is, 
this careful mother refrained from employing them in 
this way, convenient as the practice may be to those 
who have not many hands and feet at their disposal. 
* Knowing,' continues the witness before quoted, ' that 
one of the principal sources of disorder, which often 
leads to the ruin of young persons, is to let them go by 
themselves to shops and places of public resort, she 
never suffered her daughters to be exposed to this dan- 
ger. She went out herself to make the necessary pur- 
chases, or begged a friend of the family, Luigi Anto- 
nini,* to do her this service.' She was also very careful 
that her children should have proper nourishment and 
be comfortably clothed. In short, she spared no pains 
which the best mother could take to provide for all the 
wants, temporal as well as spiritual, of her family. * If,' 
says the confessor, ^ they have not all turned out as well 
as she desired, it is assuredly not her fault.' This ob- 
servation may appear at variance with the testimony 
given by their father, that they all led regular and 
Christian lives. Yet the two statements are easily re- 
concilable. The children may well not have been all 

* Ltdgi Antonini was not only the confidential friend of Anna 
Maria, but also one of her ' spiritual sons,' as those who sought 
her counsels ia the concerns of their souls have been called. He 
appeai'ed among the witnesses in the processes. 



HER BEHAVIOUR AS A MOTHER. 57 

that their saintly mother desired, or all that they might 
and ought to have been with the advantage of her holy 
instructions and example, and yet have fallen into no 
errors sufficiently considerable to render them unworthy 
of being described in the terms employed by Domenico. 
And, indeed, that they were on the wdiole good, though 
faulty. Christians, is expressly corroborated by what 
our Lord vouchsafed one day to say to His servant 
while she was engaged in praying fervently for them : 
* I will save your children because they are of your 
blood, because they are poor, and the poor are My 
friends. Yes, I will save them, although they have 
many faults.' 

Anna Maria's vigilant guardianship of her children's 
modesty and virtue was exemplified moreover in the 
caution with which she proceeded in the matter of their 
marriages. As is well known, parents of all classes 
have a much larger share in the choice of partners in 
life for their children in most European countries than 
in our own ; their influence in the matter of selection 
being among ourselves chiefly indirect, while their au- 
thority, so far as it goes, lies simply in prohibi^on. 
This is not the place to discuss the merits or demerits 
of either system ; suffice it to observe that the theory 
prevailing on the continent, that it is part of the parents' 
duty and province to settle their children in life and 
provide suitable marriages for them --♦-should marriage 
be their proper vocation — is founded on a good and 
true principle, a principle which contrary habits and 
systems can never entirely eradicate. IVevertheless the 
foreign system, as very commonly carried out, is liable 
to great abuses, which mainly spring from two causes : 
first, that temporal advantages too often influence pa- 
rents unduly in their choice, to the exclusion both of 



58 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

higher interests and of personal recommendations, which 
latter are not to be undervalued ; secondly, tljat the 
parties themselves have often little opportunity of be- 
coming mutually acquainted, and of thus ascertaining 
whether they are suited to each other in tastes, tempers, 
or dispositions. Anna Maria, as may well be imagined, 
was not likely to be biassed in her selection of a hus- 
band for her daughter by worldly considerations ; and, 
with true maternal prudence and affection, she avoided 
the other abuse, of venturing to unite two young per- 
sons without allowing them the means of knowing what 
they were about in an affair of such vital importance 
to their happiness. 

'At the period,* says Domenico, ' of the marriage of 
Sofia with Signor Micali, in order to have time to ar- 
range everything and that the future married pair might 
become acquainted with each other, the servant of God 
permitted the said Micali to frequent the house for 
about two months previous to the marriage, and to con- 
verse with Sofia, always however in her presence.' To 
many this precaution may wear a formal and prudish 
app*earance, accustomed as they are to the widely differ- 
ent practice prevailing in this country. But we would 
remind them that in no country do strict Catholics, 
not to speak of saints, approve of those caressing famili- 
arities which amongst ourselves are commonly regarded 
as the almost necessary, and certainly permissible, ac- 
companiments of the affianced relationship and to which 
solitary interviews offer so much opportunity and en- 
couragement. Domenico proceeds to say, ' l^o other 
young man frequented our house with a view to marry- 
ing our daughters :' from which it is plain that Anna 
Maria's anxiety for the happiness and temporal welfare 
of her children did not induce her to seek husbands for 



HER BEHAVIOUR AS A MOTHER. 59 

them, or to incur tlie risk of those casual attachments, 
formed solely by frequent and intimate association, 
which too often lead to the union of persons in every 
way ill matched. Their future she committed to God 
in prayer, as she had her own, and when the occasion 
arose used her consummate prudence, enlightened by 
divine grace, to insure a good and safe decision. 'When 
the two boys wished to marry,' says her husband, ' the 
servant of God made inquiries respecting the young 
persons w^hom they desired to take as their wives ; and, 
the accounts having been favourable, she gave her con- 
sent, as I also did ; the wedding-feast consisted in a 
simple family meal.' 

It seems almost needless to say that the obedience 
which Anna Maria had always required from her chil- 
dren she strictly exacted from them towards their father; 
and moreover they had under their eyes the example 
of the filial respect which their mother continued to pay 
towards her own parents, as we shall have occasion to 
notice. She also punished them when necessary, but 
always with moderation, as her husband testifies : 'she 
saw with pain,' he says, ' parents carried aw^ay in their 
anger to strike their children on the head, and would 
try to prevent them when prudence allowed her to 
interpose.' ' The servant of God,' he adds, speaking of 
his wife's obedience to the fifth commandment, ' never 
inflicted a bodily injury on any one, neither did she 
harm any one with her tongue.' She was watchful also 
to prevent any such harm accruing to others in her 
presence, and especially in that of her children, and 
avoided, as far as possible, admitting into her house 
persons who by their conversation might scandalise one 
of these little ones ; and, as even ordinarily good people 
will sometimes be careless as to what they say in tho 



60 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

hearing of children, falsely imagining that they have 
no ears or attention for remarks of a worldly or equi- 
vocal character, that they will not understand them, or 
that no evil impression will be produced by what they 
thus casually overhear, this vigilant mother took care 
to check all such levity and indiscretion, which, indeed, 
was distressing and hateful to herself. An enemy also 
to all censorious conversation, as we have already ob- 
served, she specially abhorred it when ecclesiastics were 
its subject. ^ 111 fared it,' says Domenico, ' with any 
who criticised a priest or spoke of our Holy Father with 
scant reverence; she instantly administered a reproof, 
giving as her reason that the Pope is the Yicar of Jesus 
Christ, and that priests are His ministers.' , * In speak- 
ing of ecclesiastics,' observes Cardinal Pedicini, ^ she 
used to say, *' They are God's ministers, and therefore 
always worthy of our respect : at the hour of death, 
whom shall we need save the priest ?" ' Her children 
were also taught by her example to show personal re- 
verence to the consecrated servants of our common 
Lord. * The ministers of God,' says Domenico, ' were 
the object of her profoundest veneration. When a 
priest visited us, I remarked that she rose and went to 
kiss his hand ;* she also made our sons and daughters 
kiss it with the greatest respect. This she did likewise 
when in the streets she met any piiest with whom she 
was acquainted, kissing his hand publicly with the ut- 
most reverence.' Thus it was that Anna jNIaria taught 
her children betimes to venerate those who hold God's 
place in regard to us, a lesson which childhood readily 
learns, and still more surely imbibes from the parent's 
example. 

* This practice, we need scarcely say, is not unusual among 
a devout Catholic population ; as, for example, the Tjrolese. 



HER BEHAVIOUR AS A MOTHER. 61 

Truthfulness, again, was a virtue whicli she strictly 
inculcated. '1 never/ says her husband, *^ heard the 
least untruth from her lips, nor detected her in the 
slightest artfulness ; she reproved servants energetically 
on this point, inuch more the children.' But it was 
not only hy instruction and example that Anna Maria 
trained her children to the love of virtue and holiness ; 
under her roof they lived in a very atmosphere of piety. 
One may say that religious influences were silently 
brought to bear upon them at every hour of the day, 
and reached them through every sense. The Taigi 
occupied a small house which was situated in a lane 
running into the Strada Sdrucciolo. It was furnished, 
as may be imagined, in the plainest and simplest man- 
ner, but the moment you crossed the threshold, you 
might observe that cleanliness and order reigned through- 
out the humble dwelling, l^o one can have failed to 
notice how much a judicious order tends to satisfy the 
eye, and how cheerful and attractive a room may be 
made to look by mere arrangement, although it may 
contain no one article of furniture in itself either costly 
or beautiful. This is because order is one of the essen- 
tial elements of beauty, and the love of it is a reflex of 
a divine attribute. There is no confusion in any work 
of God : confusion is therefore antipathetic to our minds, 
created as we are to the image of God. The obscure 
dwelling, then, of which Anna Maria was the soul and 
presiding spirit was distinguished by this charm, which 
even poverty itself does not preclude ; but it was much 
more than orderly : you felt that you were entering a 
sanctuary. The family is from God, it is of divine in- 
stitution, and the home is its abode. This makes home 
a sacred place ; and sacred it is in the hearts of thou 
sands to the dear aliections and charities of domestic 



62 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

life, around which countless sweet and tender recollec- 
tions gather as years roll on : but with how many is it 
nothing more ! Yet the Christian home has, and ought 
to have, a sacredness surpassing that which any earthly 
affection, however pure and good, can impart. The 
family under the law of grace is the nursery of souls for 
God ; it is therefore a sanctuary wherein high mysteries 
are enacted : God is forming His elect in its bosom. 
Hence its outward appearance and regulation should 
speak, not only of earthly comfort, of kind human affec- 
tions, and sweet human recollections, but of the ever- 
lasting home, the blessed mansion of our Heavenly 
Father and of the great family of the saints, His children 
and our brethren, who await us there. Upon the walls 
of the Taigi's dwelling, arranged with a taste which the 
heart not seldom teaches, hung the pictures of their 
holy patrons; not costly pictures certainly, but de- 
vout and well-chosen, and such as inspired devotion. 
Amongst them conspicuous was the King of Saints, our 
dear Lord upon His cross ; at the end of \he room was 
a little altar, the family oratory, with the Good Mother, 
the Madonna, before whose image a lamp was kept con- 
stantly burning, notwithstanding the poverty of the 
family. There also you might observe the candles of 
the last Purification feast, and the palms of the last 
Holy Week, which had received the Church's blessing, 
and the holy water, which puts devils to flight, helps 
to purify from venial stains, and attracts the loving 
protection of God's good angels. This little altar Anna 
Maria had set up even before her conversion and in the 
first days of her marriage. 

But if the religious aspect of this house was calcu- 
lated to im^^ress the mind of any casual observer, how 
deep must have been the mute influence exercised on 



HER BEHAVIOUR AS A MOTHER. 63 

the inmates by the continual sight of holy symbols and 
the dwelling among objects which have the perfume of 
the Church's benediction on them. But this was not 
all : it was the bearing and behaviour of her who ruled 
and ordered the house, and regulated the daily life ob- 
served therein, which so peculiarly haUowed it and gave 
to it almost a conventual character. * She had estab- 
lished the habit,' says Domenico, ' of saying upon enter- 
ing the house, " Sia lodato Gesii e Mmna — Praised be 
Jesus and Mary;" it was also her '^Buon giormf ("Good 
niorning") to us, which she said bending her head with 
deepest reverence.' The pious mother also awoke her 
children by calling on the holy names of Jesus and Mar;y 
at their bedsides, that their first thought might thus be 
secured for God and Eternity ; then, as soon as they 
were dressed, all together prayed at the little altar, 
thanking God for the protection granted during the 
past night, and begging a blessing on the labours of the 
day.'^ She herself rose daily at a very early hour, while 
all were yet in their beds, to prepare herself for Com- 
. munion ; and after arranging everything and leaving 
directions with her old mother, who lived with them, 
as to what she should do in any contingency that might 
arise, she went to Mass, returning home after having 
made her thanksgiving. Every occupation of the day 
had its appointed hour, and the Holy ^ame of God was 
invoked before entering on it. She gave frequent 
utterance to ejaculatory prayers while engaged in her 
work ; these aspirations were like so many sparks escap- 
ing from the inward furnace of her heart, and must 

* The pious usages here mentioned remind us of those sug- 
gested by F. Batti in the lirst chapter of his little hook entitled 
The Good Motlicr of a Family occujned loltli lier Children in 
the Fractice of Christian Piety, (Burns.) 



64 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

have liad a sanctifying effect on all wlio heard fchem. 
Then again, the blessing of God was reverently implored 
on each meal ; and when the labours of the day w^erc 
ended, either before or immediately after supper parents 
and children clustered together to read some Life of a 
Saint or other devout book ; the observations suggested 
and the conversations which sprang out of the subject 
forming the evening recreation of this truly happy 
family. 

Before seeking repose, they were once more as- 
sembled before the little altar, when the Rosary was 
always said in common; after which she offered, as her 
husband states, 'many other prayers to her holy patrons.' 
Elsewhere he specifies in more detail some of her devo- 
tions on these occasions. ' She was very devout,' he says, 
' to the angels, particularly our holy angel-guardians, to 
whom she prayed morning and night. She also ad- 
dressed herself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to the holy 
Apostles, St. Joseph, St. Francis, and others ; in short, 
she had an infinite number of holy protectors and pro- 
tectresses, whom she invoked after we had said the 
Eosary together. She prayed for the Holy Father, for 
the cardinals, for all priests, for benefactors, for the 
conversion of sinners, as also for that of heretics, for 
the sick, for the exaltation of Holy Church, for the 
whole world, for the living and the dead, and even for 
bad tongues' (these would seem to have been her 
peculiar aversion, since Domenico singles out this act 
of charity for special notice) : ' all these prayers were 
said together every evening.' Yet the good man was 
not wearied : far from it ; for he adds, in his simple 
w^ay, ' and this seemed a Paradise to me.' 

Such were the devotions practised by this pious 
mother in her family. She also provided that all 



HER BEHAVIOUR AS A MOTHER. 65 

sliould, as far as was possible, profit by tbe public de- 
votions of the Church, especially on festival days; and 
would often take her girls by turns with her when she 
went to visit some one or other of the many sanctuaries 
of Eome, selecting in preference that wliich was dedi- 
cated to the saint whom the Church specially honoured 
on that day. Domenico seems willingly to have joined 
her in these acts of piety whenever his laborious life of 
constant domestic service permitted him. ' Frequently,' 
he says, ' on festival days, when I had a little liberty, 
we used to go together to Holy Benediction and the 
holy Eosary at the Minerva with our family ; in the 
evening, we used often to go to the Quarant' Ore, where 
the Blessed Sacrament was exposed. Such were our 
diversions.' He elsewhere mentions how exact she 
was in her way of keeping and making her children 
keep the feast days of obligation. ' On working days,' 
he says, * she toiled, washed, and performed all her 
household business, with an activity which might have 
fatigued four persons, but the feast days she employed 
in praying and in having books of piety read to her. 
She heard several Masses ; and, when the children re- 
turned from the parish catechising, she took them to 
some church, generally the Minerva, to be present at 
the sermon, and again at Eosary and Benediction. In 
the course of the day she did only what was strictly 
necessary; that is, she made the beds and did the 
needful cooking ; and she took care that the festival 
should be hallowed by every member of the family.' 

As all know who have frequented Eome, there are 
very joyous and somewhat uproarious popular diver- 
sions at certain seasons of the year, particularly during 
the Carnival. But, even when occurring at less ob- 
jectionable times, not only were these noisy demonstra- 

F 



66 V. AXNA MARIA TAIGT. 

tions of frolic and mirth distasteful to Anna Maria her- 
self, hut she did not like them for her children. She 
knew too well the engrossing and evil effect of that 
•wild thoughtless abandonment to vain joy which tills 
the heart of youth, when pleasure seems running riot 
in every bosom and dancing in every eye ; she remem- 
bered too well how sad, empty, and sick, as respected 
heavenly things, the soul was left after partaking of 
such inebriating draughts of enjoyment ; and so she 
would fain have kept all she loved and prized away 
from similar temptations and satisfied with the sober 
joys of home. When, therefore, Domenico wanted to 
go and witness some gay amusement of this kind and 
desired that his wife and family should be of the party, 
if she could gently dissuade him, she would remain at 
home; but if not, and he persisted, then she cheerfully 
consented to accompany him with all the. children. 

It must not be inferred, however, from this reluct- 
ance to join in any public diversion that Anna Maria 
was stiff or gloomy with her young family, or discour- 
aged innocent recreation and mirth. She knew that 
children must have some amusement, but she wished 
it to be of a simple and harmless character. Children, 
in fact, naturally find most enjoyment in such diver- 
sions ; it is generally their parents and elders who first 
cultivate in them a taste for entertainments which 
bring with them a hidden peril. The child, even the 
grown child, left to its own native bent, loves to revel 
amongst the cowslips or the fragrant hay, or to take a 
merry country ramble, and finds a keener reHsh in such 
disportings than it does at first in the more artificial 
amusements to which it is often heedlessly introduced. 
Accordingly, Anna ]\Iaria would occasionally herself 
vite her gMs to make an excursion outside the town, 



HER BEHAVIOUR AS A MOTHER. 67 

a great pleasure to all young people, "but especially to 
the sons and daughters of poverty, cooped up habitually 
within the narrow precincts of their small, crowded 
dwellings in bye-lanes and corners. She would always, 
however, strive to combine a pious object with, this 
ramble of recreation. Some church or shrine used to 
be the goal, where, along v/ith their mother, the cliil- 
dren paid their devotions with a freshness and a 
fervour which such little pilgrimages are wont to 
kindle. Then they made a rural repast,— it was a 
light one, — consisting generally of chestnuts and a 
little wine, which the mother had brought with her, 
knowing that nothing so delights the young as a meal 
al fresco. One of these parties on a solitary occasion, 
probably from some unexplained motive of convenience, 
took place on a Friday. There was no sin in this cer- 
tainly ; the precept of abstinence was not broken, and 
the amusement was of a very sober kind, and such as 
did not exclude pious thoughts ; yet she who was 
called to follow not a rule of duty alone, but one of 
perfection, which draws its law, manifested by ii^terior 
suggestions and inspirations, from a whole class of 
feelings and motives which are brought to bear very 
feebly on ordinary Christians, or to which they do not 
much attend, was reproached by her Heavenly Spouse 
with having chosen for recreation the day which is 
consecrated to the memory of His Passion. It is need- 
less to say that she was mindful never to do the like 
again ; and even her children, following her example, 
abstained from indulging in such diversions on the 
Friday. 

That she was not only willing that others should 
be mirthful, but that her gravity operated as no cold 
hindrance to innocent gaiety, is i)roved also by Dome- 



68 V. ANNA MABIA TAIGI. 

nico's deposition. By nature Anna Maria had been 
extremely lively, nay, even ardent and impetuous ; the 
impetuosity, indeed, had been all tamed down, and the 
ardour diverted into a higher channel, but her sweet, 
joyous cheerfulness had never deserted her, although it 
was nourished now on more genuine food and sprang 
from a purer fountain. * She spoke of God and of holy 
things,' says her husband, ' without becoming weari- 
some, like some of your devout people, who always 
want to talk about themselves and their piety in order 
to make a parade of their devotion. She adapted her- 
self to all conversation on innocent and indifferent sub- 
jects, and she laughed at the jokes that might be made 
when at table ; but she was so prudent, that she knew 
how to turn the conversation insensibly to the things 
of God, and we were caught without perceiving it.' 
Domenico, in his artless simplicity, seems here to have 
hit upon as near a definition of a bore as can well be 
given, an animal whose genus we all instinctively re- 
cognise without being able well to state wherein its 
essence consists. The tongue speaks out of the abund- 
ance of the heart, but when the soul within abounds in 
^self, it is self which it pours forth, whatever may be 
the subject. J^ot that all persons who contrive to be 
tiresome on good and profitable subjects ostensibly aim 
at magnifying their own virtue, but jDerhaps they value 
their advice a little too much, if not themselves, and 
at any rate like to hear themselves talk. This is quite 
sufiicient to make others dislike to listen to them. 
Their hearers, accordingly, resent and detest the intru- 
sion, even when they cannot consciously assign the rea- 
son. We more than doubt if any saint ever was or could 
be tiresome. Saints, it is true, may have but one note, 
but that note contains all harmonies ; they may talk of 



AS MISTRESS OF A FAMILY. 69 

one tiling alone, but that one thing so engrosses their 
own attention that they have lost sight of themselves. 
Anna Maria's heart was overflowing with what was the 
unceasing object of her own contemplation, and on the 
altar of divine love she had made a perpetual holocaust 
of that self-love which is hateful to men as well as to 
God. Other witnesses, well-acquainted with her, have 
testified that she was disinclined to speak of Avorldly 
matters, but that when she could freely lead the con- 
versation to heavenly things her face beamed with 
happiness. Scarcely had she o|)ened her lips to* speak 
of the goodness of God and pronounced the Holy ]N"ame 
of Jesus, her sweet Saviour, when immediately the in- 
terior fire which consumed her manifested itself in 
every feature of her face, and she appeared all inflamed 
and as one transported with a holy intoxication. 

Such were the influences under which the children 
of Anna Maria were brought up. But we shall not 
have completed our view of her as mother of a family 
until we have also regarded her in the cognate capacity 
of mistress of a family, which shall be the subject of 
the next chapter. 



CHAPTEE VI. 

ANNA MAEIA AS MISTRESS OF A FAMILY. 

In speaking of Anna Maria as a ^vife and a mother a 
good deal has incidentally been said or implied of her 
conduct as the * matcrfamilias,' the mistress of a house- 
hold, and hers, we shall find, was by no means a small 
one, exclusive of her numerous children. A few re- 



70 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

marks, however, remain to be added with respect to 
her admirable behaviour in this capacity. 

Industry and economy will at once suggest them- 
selves as necessary duties in her who rules the house, 
provides for its necessities, and controls the application 
of its means. Those means were in the case of the 
Taigi very small. Domenico received only six scudi^' 
a month for his service in the Chigi palace, so that 
without very prudent management, the resources of the 
family would have been quite insufficient for its decent 
maintenance. He had, as we have seen, handed over 
the whole administration of the' funds to his wife, and 
he had no cause to repent having done so. While taking 
care that every one had sufficient and well-prepared food 
(always excepting herself), she practised the strictest 
frugality and economy, not merely on the ground of 
necessity or for prudential reasons, but from highur 
motives ; waste and extravagance being in all cases re- 
prehensible. * The expenses,' her husband says, ' were 
well regulated according to needs ; she let no one Avant 
for anything, but at the same time she was frugal, in 
order to avoid bad habits.' We have already seen his 
testimony to the vigour and activity with which she 
acquitted herself of her numerous labours ; nevertheless 
all was performed with the greatest nicety. * She did 
all,' he says, ' with the utmost exactness, and she worked 
exceedingly well. In short,' he adds, ' she was an in- 
comparable woman for all her good qualities.' And 
again he says, * For the love of God she made herself 
the servant of all. She might have had herself waited 
upon, since I almost always kept a servant for her, but 
she set her hand to everything in order to serve others ;' 
and then he goes on to state v/hat we have already 
* The Roman scudo is reckoned as being worth about 4s. Sd. 



- . AS MISTRESS OF A FAMILY. 71 

mentioned, that she always stood and attended to the 
rest while they sat at dinner. Her servants (for later, 
when she was visited with a complication of intirmities 
and painful complaints, it became necessary to have a 
second domestic) she treated with the utmost kindness. 
She was most careful that they should receive good and 
abundant nourishment. She used to give them their 
breakfast herself, and reserved for them their full share 
from the midday repast. When, in after years, she was 
often helplessly confined to her bed, so anxious was 
she that they should have enough that she would make 
them take their meals in her presence. * She treated 
the servant-girls like sisters,' are Domenico's words ; 
'besides their monthly wages, which she paid punctu- 
ally, she made them little presents for any additional 
trouble that occurred; these girls,' he adds, * showed 
very little gratitude, nevertheless she overlooked it all 
through a spirit of charity; she instructed them in re- 
ligion, and often took them with her to Mass on festival 
days.' 

Speaking of her strict observance of the seventh 
commandment, Domenico thus alludes to her punctual- 
ity in paying her debts : — ' E'ot only did she pay what 
she owed, but I remember that, if in her daily reckon- 
ing with Luigi Antonini she remarked an error of a 
soldo, she would take care to return it before breakfast.' 
(Luigi Antonini, it will be remembered, was the friend 
who executed her little commissions.) 'At the time 
she was making stays for the nuns of S. Domenico e 
S. Sisto, she restored even a scrap of thread which 
remained over and above. She contracted no debts, 
for she never stepped beyond the length of her leg; but, 
if constrained to incur some trifling debt, she warned 
the tradesman before buying, and hastened to pay him 



72 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

without waiting for his application.' But, while so 
strictly just in her dealings, she also took care that her 
own family should not be defrauded either in the quan- 
tity or the quality of the articles she purchased. 

Difficult times came, when the armies of the French 
Eepublic forcibly occuj^ied the Eternal City,* and, the 

* We cannot resist quoting from the pages of a modern 
historian the following account of the entry of General Berthier 
into Rome at the head of the troops of the French Directory, 
in the year 1798, recalling as it does so forcihly late events. 
Unlike the generals of Victor Emanuel, this agent of the Revo- 
lution acted with regi*et, and accomplished his odious mission 
reluctantly. Its effects were none the less disastrous. ' He 
(Berthier) entered Rome on the 15th of February, the anni- 
versary day of Pius YI.'s exaltation, proceeded to the Capitol, 
and proclaimed the Republic, calling on the names of Cato and 
Brutus. Rome had its Directory, composed of seven members 
— all deserters of the Pontifical cause — and of a Secretary, 
named Bassal, a former Cure of Versailles, an apostate "and a 
regicide. People were well aware that the army of Berthier 
was marching to seize a rich prize ; and a multitude of birds of 
prey, low speculators, Jews, agents of the Directory, had accom- 
panied it and rushed in4:o the Eternal City. An immense pillage 
took place. The Vatican was rapaciously plundered : palaces, 
villas, all the galleries, all the churches, pictures, statues, 
antique vases, cameos, sacred vessels, sacerdotal vestments, 
fell into the hands of the French Republicans charged with the 
task of "regenerating" Rome. Berthier deplored, but could 
not prevent these depredations. Massena presided over the 
spoliations. From time to time the "Marseillaise" was sung 
round the tree of liberty, planted on the Capitol. Braving the 
menaces with which he was assailed, strong against iniquity 
and injustice, the Venerable Pius VI. refused to give up the 
temporal sovereignty. His life was spared, but he saw himself 
loaded ^\ith humiliations and insults ; he was pitilessly robbed 
of his furniture, his ornaments, his valuable library. Some 
days later, the agents of the Du-ectory notified to Pius VI. the 
orders they had received to remove the Pope from Rome ; and 
on the 2d Ventose (20th February) the venerable Pontiff found 
himself compelled to quit Rome, which he was never to see 
again. Dragged from his palace in the middle of the night, he 
was i)laced in a carriage and taken to Viterbo ; at Siena they 



AS MISTRESS OF A FAMILY. 73 

Chigi family having removed to Paris, poor Domenico 
lost his monthly six crowns of Avages. ^ My poor wife,' 
he says, ' full of courage and energy, animated me to 
put my trust in God. In order to feed our numerous 
family, she learnt how to make women's shoes, as well 
as stays, and worked night and day. The Lord blessed 
her labours, so as to enable her not only to provide 
bread for the household, but. to succour a multitude of 
poor who had recourse to her charity. It is true that 
her work would not have sufficed to meet such great 
needs, nevertheless it brought her into relation with 
the nuns of S. Domenico e Sisto ; and, as the Queen of 
Etruria* was in their house at that time, her Majesty 



permitted him to stop, and reside awhile in the convent of 
St. Augustine ; later he removed to the Carthusian monas- 
tery of Parma.' All who are conversant with the history of 
those times are acquainted with the suhsequent sufferings, im- 
prisonment, and exile of the Pontiff. The Directory had re- 
quired the Grand Duke to banish the Holy Father from his 
dominions ; he nobly refused, and his refusal cost him his states. 
The French Republic, not knowing what to do with their pri- 
soner, removed him into France, ill as he was and suffering 
from painful ulcers in his legs. In this almost dying state, he 
was borne over the Alps, after receiving wherever he passed the 
sympathising homage of the Catholic people of Italy. Even in- 
France itself, where every effort had been made to decatholicise 
the population, the passage of the august prisoner was an ova- 
tion. 'France,' says the author from whom we quote, 're- 
gained her fervour at the sight of this Anointed of the Lord, 
crowned with thorns like his Master.' He died in exile and 
imprisonment at Valence on the 29th August, 1799. Gabour, 
Histoire de France, torn. xix. 

* So called by anticipation. This princess was Maria Luisa, 
daughter of Charles IV., King of Spain. By the treaty of Lunc- 
ville, concluded in 1801 between the French Republic and Aus- 
tria, the grand-duchy of Tuscany was erected into a kingdom, 
that of Etruria, and conferred on Louis of Parma, a prince of 
the house of Bourbon, to whom Maria Luisa was married. 
After his death, which occurred in 1803, she governed his do- 



74 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

became acquainted with the servant of God.' To 
Anna Maria's connection with the Queen of Etruria, 
we shall recur by and bye ; at present we limit our- 
selves to our immediate subject, her management of 
domestic affairs. A terrible famine afHicted Eome dur- 
ing those miserable days. * I remember also,' continues 
Domenico, ' that at the epoch of the Eoman Eepublic 
^[tliis was in 1798] the corn failed, and Eome found it- 
self in one moment lacking bread. It became necessary 
to wait amid the throng of people at the baker's ; and 
my poor wife, whose health was so delicate, would re- 
main courageously whole days exposed to the cold and 
wind, that the family might not suffer want.' This 
was in order to receive a share in the public dole which 
was made daily to the poor during the dearth. 

Everything that she did, however arduous, was per- 
formed with the same heavenly calm as if it had been 
mere common work, or, rather, with far greater tran- 
quillity than others perform their ordinary business, ^o 
eagerness was ever displayed by Anna Maria, no spasmo- 
dic energy; there were no vociferations and exclama- 
tions, none of that affected bustle which so often accomjDa- 
nies, though it in no way expedites, the disjjatch of work 
when some more than usual call is made for exertion. 
All such manifestations arc ebullitions of self, the off- 
spring of impatience, vanity, the desire to attract atten- 
tion, or the mere result of natural impetuosity. * Ac- 
tivity' (says the author of that beautiful little work, 
The Divine Sequence) ^ is one thing ; hurry is an- 



minions, as guardian of her infant son, until 1807, when she 
resigned her authority, in pursuance of a stipulation entered 
into between France and Spain. In 1808 the kingdom of 
Etruria was absorbed by the French Empire and divided into 
three departments. 



AS MISTRESS OP A FAMILY. 76 

other. The former is consistent with the greatest 
peace and calm; the latter is the result of imperfection 
at least, and often of actual sin. We cannot think of 
the good angels as hurried ; but we can, alas ! con- 
stantly of ourselves, or of the devils.'* Anna Maria 
did her work, whatever it might be, for God, and so 
she always performed it to the best of her ability, great 
things and small alike, and very peaceably, a condition 
of doing well and also of doing quickly. ISTeither did 
she ever aim at anything extraordinary or unusual ; she 
took such measures and adopted such means as any 
prudent, hard-working woman in her class might have 
done. What was extraordinary in her actions of this 
class must be sought, not in their substance, but in the 
manner of their performance. Domenico probably in- 
tends to allude to this character of quiet moderation 
with which she went through her toils, and to the sim- 
plicity which pervaded all she did, when, after speak- 
ing of her laborious diligence, he subjoins, ' Neverthe- 
less, she was opposed to all excesses in the matter of 
exertion ; by which I mean that I never perceived that 
she allowed herself to be carried away by presumption, 
ambition, and vain-glory. . . . She joined patience to 
humility ; and I may say that her whole life was a pro- 
longed, and most painful exercise of patience.' 

No one can reflect upon the picture presented to us 
of this humble woman, thus calmly occupied at her 
daily work, without recalling to mind Her who not 
only offers us the type of perfect womanhood, but is 
herself immeasurably the highest of pure creatures, and 
yet whose life on earth was almost entirely spent in the 
apparent exercise of a round of common duties. We 
cannot refrain from giving here another and a longer 
* P. 68. 



76 V. ANNA MAKIA TAIGI. 

extract from the work of which we have just spoken. 
* We are all and each of us so impregnated with evil, 
we are so saturated with our own sins and the sins of 
those about us, that we fail to realise the sublime and 
exquisite beauty of daily life, with its round of ordinary 
occupations, as lived and performed by a perfectly holy 
being. We have woven our passions into every act 
and every thought, we wake with their hot breath on 
our lips, we break bread with our sin-soiled hands, we 
hew wood and draw water in the covetousness of our 
nature ; and the exquisite, tender, and pathetic beauty 
of ordinary daily life escapes our perception. If we 
would learn to see it, we must study Mary. He who 
did not abhor the Virgin's womb will make the scales 
fall from our eyes, if we set ourselves quietly and de- 
liberately to contemplate Her whom He chose to be 
His Mother. The dignity of life, which we are apt to 
miss in our graceless scuffle with ours.elves and with 
others, will gradually dawn upon us. And that, not 
as life in the wilderness, not on the top of a pillar, 
nor yet in its glorious but exceptional phases, as an 
apostle, as a martyr, or even as a confessor ; but life in 
its most simple elements, its least striking develop- 
ments, its least dazzling surroundings. Life, in short, 
as Mary lived it ; and as Jesus chose and fashioned it 
for His Mother, and thus fashioning it for her who is 
the culminating point of creation, He has sanctified 
life in the aspect that it offers to the multitude. He 
has made all things pure to those who live in purity. 
He has hidden Himself behind the simplest accidents 
of life. '' He standeth behind our wall, looking through 
the windows, looking through the lattices."* He has 
left a blessing on our daily path, like the perfume of 
* Cant. ii. 9. 



AS MISTRESS OF A FAMILY. 77 

hidden violets by the side of the dusty road. Where 
we seek Him, there we shall find Him ; for He is not 
far from every one of us, and He has given us His own 
pure and Virgin Mother to go hand in hand with us 
through the routine of existence. It all resumes itself 
in this : that simplicity and secrecy are strength, while 
multiplicity and multifariousness are a loss of power, 
as they are a loss of dignity.. When God will reveal 
Himself to man, He hides Himself in the bosom of a 
virgin. When He would show us a perfect human 
being, He places her in an obscure village, and to men's 
eyes she betrays nothing extraordinary. All beginnings 
of great things are little. All beginnings of good things 
are simple. [N'othing really great ever began by as- 
suming a great name, or proclaiming its commencement 
with a flourish of trumpets. The largest rivers flow 
from the most hidden springs. We are still searching 
for the sources of the Nile ! God's ways are the same 
always and everywhere. And they are a constant and 
silent protest against the bustling vain-glory of men, 
against the hurry and scramble of our mode of life ; 
our ill-tempered eagerness and indiscriminate hurry. 
A large, deep-drawn, wide-embracing hopefulness, and 
a steady, uninterrupted but unhasteful eftbrt, will alone 
convert nations and peoples, diminish the reign of evil, 
and translate into action our daily and hourly prayer, 
" May Thy Kingdom come." '* 

If Anna Maria did not favour any extravagant ap- 
plication of strength and vigour, which, after all, can 
be practised only by fits and starts and entails a pro- 
portionate, or, rather, disproportionate, expenditure of 
time devoted to the recruiting of overtaxed powers, not 
to speak of the moral collapse sure to follow these un- 
^' The Divine Sequence, pp. 65-7. 



78 , V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

natural bounds of feverish energy, she far more than 
made up for this by always keeping on at her work. 
This patient perseverance is a far greater tax on forti- 
tude, and every other moral quality which sustains us 
in bodily labours, than are the most strenuous occa- 
sional efforts. jSTay, the very body, our animal nature 
itself, prefers the latter method, and would far rather 
be overcharged for a brief space, and then lie down, 
like a wearied beast, and take its fill of rest, than sub- 
ject itself to unremitting, though moderate, toil which, 
if it does not break down the strength, wears and con- 
sumes it. Anna Maria Avas never idle : Cardinal Pedi- 
cini mentions that he never entered her house — and 
he was a daily visitor for many years — without finding 
her engaged in her domestic avocations ; and when she 
was too ill to move about, and the most torturing suffer- 
ings nailed her to her bed, her hands were still busy 
mending the household linen or some article of clothing. 
We have said that the humble dwelling of the 
Taigi harboured other inmates besides theii* own im- 
mediate family. After their marriage, Domenico had 
offered a home to his mother-in-law, and she lived with 
them till her death. This not only brought an addi- 
tional individual to be fed and clothed out of their 
small means, but introduced a fresh temper, not of a 
very agreeable nature, into the narrow domestic circle. 
Camillo and his young wife also continued, for some 
time after their marriage, to live under the paternal 
roof. It is not always easy, even in the largest houses, 
for families thus circumstanced — that is, where two 
generations live together — to maintain an unbroken 
state of harmony. Often the old will think the young 
neglectful or wanting in respect, and the young will 
regard the old as tiresome and exacting; how much 



AS MISTRESS OF A FAMILY. 79 

more trying, therefore, must such an association be 
likely to prove where the different, and perhaps incon- 
gruous, members are necessarily crowded together in a 
limited space and in juxtaposition all the day long! 
Eut Anna Maria knew how to deal with these diffi- 
culties, and by her gentle influence to preserve family 
union and concord. In addition to those we have 
mentioned, her father, although he did not live with 
them, constantly frequented the house. Ruined in cir- 
cumstances as he had been in early life, he was now 
equally so in health, and the chief object of his visits 
was, it would appear, to obtain little indulgences and 
delicacies which he was unable to procure for himself. 
A certain false pride, which seems to have formed an 
element in the poor man's character, prevented him, 
however, from showing much appreciation of any kind- 
ness he received. We give Domenico's own simple 
account. ^ Her father,' he says, ' who from easy cir- 
cumstances had fallen into great poverty, often came to 
the servant of God for help j with my permission, she 
used to give him things to eat which he was fond of, 
and even a few small coins to purchase what he fan- 
cied j from pride of nature, he showed little gratitude 
for these attentions. In the last years of his life he 
was attacked by a horrible leprosy, and the servant of 
God washed and combed him with the greatest pati- 
ence, and did him all the good that lay in her power j 
when he fell dangerously ill, she rendered him all the 
assistance she was able, saw that all the sacraments 
were administered to him, and, after his death, had 
Masses offered for him and the Rosary said in common 
for the repose of his soul. She fulfilled the same duties 
towards her mother, whom I took into our house, and 
whose wayward temper long exercised the patience of 



80 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

my poor wife. It seems as if God had given her parents 
of this sort in order to put her patience to the proof. 
She attended on her mother for many years with in- 
comparable respect and affection. She gave her the 
choicest things she was able to provide for her, showed 
compassion to her, cheered her, in a word did every- 
thing to satisfy her. Observing that this old woman 
liked to have a little pocket-money, Anna Maria did not 
fail to gratify her in this respect, although she was 
not allowed to want for anything. Finally, when she 
was taken ill, my wife hastened to have the sacraments 
administered to her, which was always one of her first 
thoughts in cases of sickness ; after her death, she took 
charge of the body, fulfilling the same duties of charity 
as she had previously done in the case of her father.' 

While the family consisted only of Anna Maria, 
her rude, but good-natured husband, and children, who 
could readily be taught to respect their grandmother, 
and accommodate themselves to her peculiarities of 
temper, the maintenance of peace and harmony was a 
comparatively easy task. But as years rolled on the 
children became men and women, and Camiilo, as we 
have said, brought home his wife to take her place in the 
family circle. This young woman seems also to have 
had a temper of her own and rather domineering pro- 
clivities. Such a one was sure not to get on well with 
the cross-grained old* dame who sat at her father-in- 
law's fireside, and whom age had probably not rendered 
less testy. !N^either was it likely that she would always 
show the perfect docility of a daughter to her mother- 
in-law. The relation is a somewhat delicate one at 
times, even in foreign lands, where the authority of 
parents over their daughters-in-law, particularly when 
they live with them, is recognised in a manner to which 



AS MISTRESS OF A FAMILY. 81 

in England we are strangers. But Anna Maria was 
equal to the occasion. ^ She knew how, by her mar- 
vellous prudence/ says her husband, ' to make a hea- 
venly peace always reign in the family, although we 
were many in number and with very different disposi- 
■ tions ; above all, at the time that Camillo, my eldest 
son, lived with us, during the early days of his mar- 
riage ; for soon he went to occupy the lodging which 
his master, Mgr. Mastai, had provided for him. The 
daughter-in-law was of a humour very difficult for any 
to deal with, because she wanted to command as mis- 
tress; but the servant of God knew so well how to re- 
strain all within their proper limits, and this with so 
much affability, that all I could say on the subject 
would be very little. I do not know how to explain 
myself: her manners had a charm which irresistibly 
compelled one to satisfy her, and it was always for the 
advantage of holy peace and of the family. I let her 
regulate everything, for I saw that she acquitted her- 
self perfectly of the task. If she saw anybody dis- 
quieted, she said nothing, but waited till the mind had 
calmed down ; then she gently led the ]3erson to re- 
flect, and gave good advice regarding patience and 
humility. These little squabbles were rare, because 
my wife was so prudent that she no sooner perceived 
any slight difference arising, whether between her old 
mother and her daughter-in-law, or others, than she 
hastened to stifle the quarrel with a kindness which 
served to cement peace and harmony still more strongly.' 
He adds that in the case of illness of any member of 
the family she was prodigal of her care, giving up for 
the time, if necessary, both her daily Mass and her 
other devotions. The family was furtlu^r enlarged 
when the widowed Sofia returned, with her six chil- 

G 



82 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

dren, to her parents' house, at which time their in- 
creased numbers rendered a change of abode impera- 
tive. 

Much more might be added with reference to Anna 
Maria's behaviour in her domestic life and in her con- 
duct Avith regard to the temporal interests of her family, 
which will find its appropriate place when we come to 
speak of her different Christian virtues, and in ]3ar- 
ticular of her sublime hope and confidence in God and 
her heroic charity. For the present, the sketch we 
have given, imperfect as it is, may suffice. And im- 
perfect it is in more ways than one, not only by its in- 
completeness, which we hope in a measure to supply 
elsewhere, but because, having for the present done no 
more than make a passing allusion to the supernatural 
life she was interiorly leading, and to the extraordinary 
gifts of which she was the recipient, while thus en- 
gaged in the most homely of occupations, the picture we 
have given is wanting as yet in a feature which greatly 
enhances its sublimity. Xot that, as we have said, 
these gifts were in themselves merits, but because the 
humility, the simplicity, and the homeliness, suited to 
her humble position, which were so remarkably mani- 
fested in her, receive an additional value in our eyes 
when we view her as the recipient of such splendid and 
singular graces. Moreover, it should be kept in mind 
that those marvellous communications and astound- 
ing graces with which this holy woman was favoured 
did not follow upon a long previous hfe of holiness, 
but were vouchsafed to her from the very first days of 
her generous turning to God. jSTeither did they come 
gradually : they were a rich dowry bestowed upon her 
at once, and on the very threshold of her course. Her 
ears heard divine locutions, her hand received the gift 



HER HEROIC FAITH. 83 

of miraculous healing, in those early beginnings of a 
sanctity which seemed born mature ; her eyes beheld 
that sun of divine wisdom — which was only to be 
extinguished when they opened on the glory of the 
beatific vision= — ere yet the penitential tears of her con- 
version had dried upon her cheeks. Surely this re- 
flection cannot but add greatly to the admiration with 
which we regard Anna Maria Taigi engaged in what 
we are apt to call the plodding avocations of a life of 
toil, and busied in the quiet performance of the common 
domestic duties which fall to the lot of the wife and 
mother in the poor man's family. ^Nevertheless it was 
in the perfect fulfilment of these and other Christian 
duties, and not in her possession of those glorious 
privileges, that she was laying up a store of merits be- 
fore God and earning the crown prepared for her by 
the Just Judge. 



CHAPTER VII. 

ANNA Maria's heroic faith; and her devotion to 

THE BLESSED TRINITY. 

What the root is to the tree, and the foundation is 
to the building, the theological virtue of faith is in the 
Christian life. But faith must be distinguished as of 
two kinds, habitual faith and actual faith. ' Habitual 
faith is that theological virtue Avhich inclines us to be- 
lieve the mysteries of God, on account of His revela- 
tion ; and actual faith is the act or operation proper to 
this habitual faith. . . . This habitual faith is often in- 
active, and, as it were, set to sleep in the greater j^art 
of the faithful, because it is not exercised by the acts 



84 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

propep to it, and thus it is of little profit in this state, 
like a sword which remains in its scabbard without 
being drawn. But when it produces its- acts, and is 
actually exercised by the consideration of its proper 
objects, then it is efficacious and active, and produces 
admirable ejffects for the good of the faithful. ... To 
follow the act of faith and operate conformably to the 
inclination it leaves in the heart, this is to vivify faith ; 
according to what the prophet says : " Justus ex fide 
vivit — The just man liveth by faith.""^ He is speaking 
of this actual faith in exercise, because hence it is that 
the man draws and preserves the life of his soul, which 
consists in grace and in all kinds of exercises of piety 
and devotion. In like manner he acquires the life of 
glory for eternity, because, thus vivified, faith becomes 
meritorious ; as on the other hand it is dead, as says 
the Apostle St. James, when its acts are not produced : 
^^ Fides sine operlhus mortua est — Faith without works 
is dead."| . . . Such is the faith of the greater part of 
Christians, who make no reflection from morning till 
night on the truths revealed by God to enlighten and 
guide them amidst the darkness of this world ; hence 
they perform all their works from human motives and 
reasons drawn from self-interest, acting only through 
concupiscence and passion. In them faith is dead, in- 
active, and profitless, seeing they make no more use of 
it than if they did not profess it ; whence it follows 
that their life is pagan rather than Christian, being in 
no way influenced by the sjjirit of Jesus Christ. 'f 

What is true of too many to this excess, is true in 
a lesser degree, varying indefinitely, of the great mass 

* Habac. ii. 4. t ii. 20. 

\ Bail, La Tlipologie Affective, ou Saint Thomas en Medi- 
tation, torn. iii. med. x. 



HER HEROIC FAITH. 85 

of Christians. Few of their actions, comparatively, are 
the immediate fruits of faith, prompted by supernatural 
motives and animated by them during their performance. 
Yet this precious gift of faith, when received into a soul 
and allowed to act with its full vigour, is able to trans- 
form a sinner into a saint, even in a moment of time. 
Witness the thief on the cross, and Magdalen at the 
feet of her Saviour. For though it is charity, not faith, 
which unites the soul to God and produces sanctity in 
it, nevertheless a living faith is the principle of sanctity. 
Even as the sight and knowledge of corporal and ma- 
terial things is the principle of the love we bear them, 
and if we knew them not by a natural light we could 
not love them, so also is it with the spiritual sight and 
with spiritual love. ' Hence, as this love is necessary 
to us, the sight and knowledge are equally so ; and as 
this sight and this knowledge are supernatural, we can 
have them only by faith.'* Thus our Lord, after say- 
ing of Magdalen, ' Many sins are forgiven her, because 
she hath loved much,' turned to the penitent herself 
and said, ^ Thy faith hath made thee safe.'f 

To be converted, then, to God truly, the soul must 
see and accept by faith, the condition of its producing 
an act of love. But the fulness and fervour with which 
such conversions are effected in souls differ widely : in 
some, this process is from the first, although genuine, 
more or less languid and lacking in warmth ; in others, 
the pristine fervour is suffered afterwards to cool and 
die out. Anna Maria offers a striking example of the 
precise contrary in both respects. Hers was one of 
those conversions in which the power and energy of 
faith are signally exemplified. As a proof of this, we 
have to note the generosity with which she entered at 
* Bail, torn. iii. med. ix. f Luke vii. 50. 



86 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

once on a life of rigorous pennnee. It would be an in- 
sufficient account of the matter to impute this generosity 
to mere ardour of disposition and high natural courage. 
True, it needed both ardour and courage to enter on such 
a course ; but something more was needed for persever- 
ance. This something more was her strong faith: * The 
penitent and suffering life which she embraced before 
the world in the flower of her years/ says Cardinal 
Pedicini/^ ' and in which she persevered until death, is 

* Carlo-Maria Pedicini, born at Benevento in 1760, be- 
longed to the noble family of that name. He studied at Rome, 
entered the priesthood, and was made a Koman Prelate. He 
filled successively several offices in the service of the Holy See. 
Pius VII. made him coadjutor to Mgr. Quarantotti, Secretary of 
Propaganda. When this last was created Cardinal in 1816, 
Mgr. Pedicini became the actual Secretary. He was made 
Cardinal by Pius YII. on the 23d of March 1823, and subse- 
quently Prefect of Propaganda and Vice-chancellor of the Ro- 
man Church by Gregory XVI. He was acquainted with the 
V. Anna Maria Taigi for more than thirty years, and was in 
the habit of visiting her almost daily until his own occupations, 
as Secretary of Propaganda, became too constant to allow of 
his continuing the practice. She had been commanded by her 
confessor, under obedience, to manifest everything to Mgr. 
Pedicini concerning the extraordinary gi-aces she received, as 
he was himself unable to visit her as often as was desirable. 
In 1815, Mgi\ Pedicini appointed, at the recommendation of 
Mgi'. Strambi, a x)riest of Macerata to replace him, who con- 
tinued to discharge the office of spiritual confidant to the serv- 
ant of God until her death in 1837. Cardinal Pedicini died six 
years after the V. Anna Maria, and his epitaph in the Church 
of San Lorenzo in Damaso justly praises his piety, integrity, 
charity, and the order with which he performed all his actions. 
The Cardinal had drawn up a long statement, collected from 
his notes, of all he had personally known of the life and virtues 
of Anna Maria, lest death should remove him before the inquest 
commenced, as was in fact the case. This document accord- 
ingly was inserted in the i^rocesses, where it fills near a thou- 
sand pages. P. Calixte has inadvertently asserted that Cardinal 
Pedicini was raised to the purple in 1814 : this statement is 
clearly inaccurate. 



HER HEROIC FAITH. 87 

an indubitable proof of tlie lively and heroic faith 
which animated her.' In the light of faith she had 
seen- what she herself was and what God was; and 
that sight never left her. She lived in it and of it. 
^ A lively and continual faith in the presence of God,' 
says the Cardinal, * produces a holy life in whoso- 
ever puts this truth in practice. It sanctified Abra- 
ham, on whom the Lord enjoined this exercise : " Am- 
hula coram me, et esto perfedus — Walk before me, 
and be perfect.'* ''"' This presence of God, he testifies, 
was with Anna Maria in all her actions even the most 
simple and indifferent. The Divine goodness had im- 
pressed this maxim, which guided the father of the 
faithful, deep in her mind and heart from the very be- 
ginning of her special call to the life of perfection. We 
have seen how admirable was her correspondence to that 
great grace ; so admirable, that God imparted to her a 
testimony of His love which is unparalleled in the lives 
of His most favoured servants, the permanent vision of 
the mysterious sun already mentioned. IS^or was this 
all : she was conscious also of being directed in her 
slightest actions by a divine voice. ' She had God 
always present before her in all her actions/ writes the 
Cardinal, ' whether by reason of the mysterious sun of 
which I have spoken, or of the divine voice which con- 
tinually directed her in her least actions in the most 
surprising and extraordinary manner. Hence we may 
conjecture what was the progress of her faith, which was 
more and more stimulated by the excitations to which 
I liave alluded, and by the direction of the Holy Spirit.' 
God is not used to ii^part great and exceptional gifts 
where He knows they would not meet with adequate 
correspondence. In such cases they could, indeed, but 
* Gen. xvii. 1. 



88 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

serve to tlie condemnation of tlie unhappy recipient. 
The All-knowing and All-good God, while giving or 
withholding according to His sovereign pleasure,, ob- 
serves a certain order and measure which we cannot fail 
to recognise, and in bestowing His graces has regard to 
the capacity of each ; that capacity being, in fact, but 
the pre^Daration of heart duly to correspond with the 
gift bestowed : for who can limit the degree of grace 
of which any soul is capable ? Viewed in the light of 
this truth we are struck with amazement at the bare 
imagination of what must have been the lofty capacities 
of the soul of this holy woman, to whom He commu- 
nicated and manifested Himself in so extraordinary a 
manner, and the fidelity to grace which merited for her 
the permanence of these gifts. Eut of this enough for 
the present. 

There was nothing for which Anna Maria felt more 
gratitude than for the gift of faith. ^ Many times she 
undertook/ says the same witness, ' penitential exercises 
in order to obtain the grace to know w^hat she could do 
to testify her thankfulness to God on account of the 
^ gift of faith which He had vouchsafed to grant her.' 
Heresy* being the vice opposed to faith, it was the ob- 
ject of her cordial detestation. * She manifested,' says 
her confessorf in his deposition, ^ a profound repulsion 

* Heresy is a term which by some is used rather vaguely, 
and by others never used at all, as not being fitted for fastidious 
nineteenth - century ears. Heresy, then, it may be observed, 
does not consist in, and is not identical with, simple error con- 
cerning divine truths, which may be involuntary. Heresy is 
defined as ' a voluntary error of the understanding against a 
truth of faith, maintained with obstinaay by one who makes pro- 
fession of the religion of Jesus Christ.' Bail, tom. iii. med. xi. 

t P. Filippo-Luigi di San Nicola, a Carmelite of the Convent 
of Santa Maria della Vittoria at Rome, to whom allusion has 
already been made. He dictated in writing an account of the 



HER HEROIC FAITH. 89 

to maxims wliicli persons tainted with heresy would 
sometimes advance in her presence, or who took the 
most holy names of Jesus and Mary in vain. She 
hastened tt) repair the offence done to God by the most 
fervent and tender ejaculations, and, if she had no au- 
thority to correct these unhappy persons, she prayed 
for their conversion, and asked pardon for them of God.' 
This she would also do if she heard blasphemies uttered 
in the streets, by insolent or drunken men, whom she 
could not admonish. On such occasions she might be 
seen to shudder through her whole frame, like one v/ho 
feels a sharp physical pain. ^ She detested,' continues 
P. Eilippo, ^ every doctrine and every maxim not con- 
formable to the decisions of the Holy Catholic Church; 
by faith rooted in her heart, she believed firmly all the 
divine mysteries without any doubt, and would have 
vv^illingly shed all her blood for every article appertain- 
ing to them.' And again he says, ^Reflecting on the 
precious grace w^hich she had received in baptism, she 
never ceased to thank God for it, as for a signal benefit 
of His love ; hence proceeded the joy which filled her 
heart when she heard of heretics returning to the faith, 
and of Jews and infidels embracing it. On the other 
hand, she felt an extraordinary grief when she heard 



servant of God about a year and a half after her death. An 
indult of the Cardinal Vicar Ordinary of Rome had granted per- 
mission to collect the attestations of persons of advanced age. 
Wishing to give to his relation the value of a ji^.ridical deposi- 
tion, P. Filippo made at each session a profession of the Ca- 
tholic faith, took an oath, and appended hig signature to every 
page in presence of twelve witnesses. When the juridical pro- 
cess was opened in 1854, the relation of P. Filippo was pre- 
sented amongst other documents intact, and still invested with 
tb^ seals attached to it sixteen years previously. It was in- 
eerted in the process. 



90 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

of any offence against God ; lience her continual prayers 
for the conversion of sinners. Many a time she offered 
herself to God to endure eyery kind of suffering, and 
eyen to shed her blood, that her Heayenly Spolise might 
he known and loyed by all men. These feryent offer- 
ings brought her many crosses and pains. Thus was 
verified that which was frequently told her by God, that 
she should be a martyr for the faith, but by a martyr- 
dom different from the ordinary, longer and more meri- 
torious, because it would consist both in bodily suffer- 
ings and-^ in terrible mental pains. The divine voice 
repeated on several occasions, ''Thy life for the main- 
tenance of the faith is a long mart}Tdom." And again, 
'' This is why I have many times told thee that I had 
chosen thee to place thee in the rank of the martyrs." '* 
Anna Maria was constantly impelled to introduce 
in conversation the subjects on which she was habit- 
ually pondering. Bat as she did this, not from a 
human eagerness, but by a divine movement of grace, 
it was with a simplicity which rendered them always 
acceptable. ' Anna Maria,' says the confessor, ' had the 
talent of intermingling the maxims of faith with the 
most ordinary subjects of conversation without the 
smallest affectation, and so naturally that one could see 
that it proceeded from the deepest sentiments of her 
heart.' The same was the case when she had to speak 
of temporal things with a view to consoling others ; 
she was always reverting to the element in which she 
breathed. ^ As one,' says P. Filippo, ' who seeks trea- 
sures in the bed of the ocean, and who must now and 
then raise his head above water to breathe the vital air, 
* This communication is expressed in the Italian by a distich : 

' Per cid lo t' ho piu d' una volta detto : 
Nel numero de' martiri t' ho eletto.' 



HER HEROIC FAITH. 91 

SO Anna Maria felt the need of raising herself from 
time to time above worldly interests in order to inhale 
the vivifying air. She raised her mind and her heart 
to Heaven and to the truths of faith which were her 
life.' 

Her ; exceeding devotion and reverence for all that 
appertained to the faith was the necessary consequence 
of the sublime degree in which she possessed it. From 
this source flowed the love and veneration with which 
she regarded, and the priceless value she set upon, all 
the sacraments of the Church. She had the most lively 
faith in the sacrament of penance, receiving it with the 
most perfect compunction, and she would have wished, 
especially during the closing years of her life, to con- 
fess always before receiving Communion ; ' but, know- 
ing the tenderness of her conscience,' says the confessor, 
^I enjoined her, under obedience, to communicate daily 
and confess every week ; and she submitted.' She used 
to recommend frequent confession to all over whom she 
had any influence ; suggesting this practice to her hus- 
band with much sweetness, but enjoining it on her 
children with authority. She availed herself of every 
opportunity to lead the sick whom she visited to cleanse 
their souls and reconcile themselves to God in the sa-- 
crament of penance ; and confession also was the first 
thing she iirged upon any of her own house who were 
taken ill ; for she was very desirous that this sacrament 
should be received while as yet the mind was fully 
alive, and before the malady had made much progress. 
In like manner she manifested her profound respect for 
the sacraments of Confirmation and Extreme Unction, 
and the high value she set upon them, by having some 
of her children confirmed while still under the usual 
age, because they were in danger of death, and by her 



92 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

promptness in causing "both her father and mother to 
be anointed with the holy oils in their last sickness. Of 
her burning love for the greatest of all the sacraments, 
the Adorable Sacrament of the Altar, we shall speak at 
large hereafter. 

Anna Maria's deep reverence for the least pf God's 
commandments sprang also from the strength and live- 
liness of her faith ; and this remark equally applies to 
her observance of the precepts of the Church, in regard 
to which she was so zealous that, when a dispensation 
from fasting was rendered necessary, on the score of 
health, for any member of the family, she would de- 
sire to have it in writing from the confessor, not being 
content with a mere verbal permission. The same 
faith made her regard and treat with exceeding respect 
all those things which are called * the sacramentals' of 
Holy Church, and which become to those who duly 
prize them the channel of so many benedictions. Holy 
water, a deep value for which seems always to have dis- 
tinguished souls of high sanctity, she speciall}^ es- 
teemed; and with the sign of the cross, that other 
great Christian weapon against the powers of evil, she 
frequently armed herseK, not limiting its use to those 
jcustomary times when all habitually make it, but em- 
ploying it on many others — such as when coming in and 
going out of her own doors ; she also blessed her chil- 
dren's beds with this holy sign. Agnus Deis, blessed 
candles, and the relics of saints were similarly the 
objects of her reverential devotion ; and she could not 
bear to see any blessed object, such as a rosary, or a holy 
picture, left in the hands of little children, too young 
to understand the respect due to them, and who only 
make playthings of them. Her devotion to theElessed 
Mother of God, and to the Saints and Angels, will find 



HER HEROIC FAITH. 93 

its more appropriate notice elsewhere, and we shall also 
defer all reference to her temptations against faith till 
we come to speak of her interior trials. 

We have already had occasion to remarlc on her 
veneration for the priesthood. ' She honoured bishops, 
cardinals, religious, priests, and nuns,' writes P. Filippo, 
'and prayed incessantly for them, particularly for her 
own confessor, to whom she manifested her whole con- 
science. She ever paid an unquestioning obedience to 
the minister of God; if he enjoined or forbade any- 
thing, she submitted, and that, too, although his judg- 
ment might not be conformable to the supernatural 
lights she received from above : I ascertained this fre- 
quently, in order to put her faith and obedience to the 
test,' Her obedience to her confessor was, indeed, so 
entirely based on faith that she would never have 
thought of contradicting him or disputing any point 
with him, still less of quitting him for another, how- 
ever saintly, from whom she might have hoped to re- 
ceive much help and consolation. If, therefore, she 
changed confessors several times, it was owing to no 
caprice on her part, but was the result of divine direc- 
tion, either signified to her immediately or imposed by 
circumstances.*^' 

* * As confessors, she had 1. A Servite Father, P. Angelo. 
2. A Passionist, who was selected for her by Mgr. Stramhi ; 
she used to go very early in the morning to him for confession, 
but the great distance of the Church of SS. John and Paul in- 
terfered a little with the discharge of her domestic duties ; be- 
sides, a pain in her legs which then attacked her made her 
understand that it was not the will of God that she should con- 
tinue this practice ; the confessor with regret advised her to 
address herself to some priest in her own neighbourhood. She 
accordingly chose 8. the Abate Salvatori at San Ignazio, and 
kept to him for several years, which were marked by a mul- 
titude of heavenly favours ; but, as he made everybody ac- 



94 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

As it may be supposed, Anna Maria's devotion to 
the Holy See and her veneration for the august head 
of the Church were unbounded. She never spoke of 
the Holy Father but in terms of the deepest reverence. 
Faith made her discern so clearly Him who is repre- 
sented in His Vicar as He is in no other authority upon 
earth that she frequently gave utterance to her feelings, 
when hearing of the Sovereign Pontiff, in these em- 
phatic words : ' He is God upon earth'* — expressions 
at which aliens from God's Church take scandal, be- 
cause, in their blindness and ignorance, they cannot 
understand them, and think that whoso uses them is 
deifying a man. Anna Maria's own conduct would 
suffice to disprove so absurd a charge, for in proportion 
to her realisation of the incomparable grandeur of the 
office filled by Christ's Yicar was her keen sense of the 
duty of the faithful to offer continual prayers in his 
behalf. She was, indeed, continually praying for him, 



quainted with her, without using any reserve, she was no longer 
ahle to enjoy a moment's freedom, whether at home or in 
church ; by a command from above, to which the confessor 
conformed, she had to quit him, and placed herself in the hands 
of P. Fernando, a Discalced Trinitarian, of the Convent of the 
Quattro Fontane ; and him she had also to leave some time 
afterwards. Finally, by a divine disposition she addressed 
herself to the undersigned P. Filippo Luigi, Discalced Carme- 
lite at Santa Maria della Yittoria ; she confessed to him for 
thu'ty years and more.' Deposition of P. Filippo. 

* When that holy woman, Mother Margaret Hallahan, was 
at Eome, w%read that she once remarked, ' I am afraid -of say- 
ing what I felt about the Pope, lest I should scandalise people. 
I wanted to kneel there and look at him for hours. There was 
all that was grand and powerful on earth — the man before whom 
kings were as nothing ! And when I heard him sing Mass I 
cannot express what I felt : it teas the god of the earth prostrate 
in adoration before the God of Heaven /^ And again she wi'ote, 
* I cannot see the Pope without emotion. He seems so truly to re- 
present God upon earth.'' Life, by Iter Religious Children, p. 430. 



HER HEROIC FAITH. 95 

and "beseeching the Lord to deliver him from the snares 
of his enemies, with which then, as now, he was sur- 
rounded. Por this end * she offered to the Eternal 
Fathet,' says her confessor, Hhe Precious Blood of 
Jesus Christ, to which she was very devout, her fervent 
prayers, the persecutions, crosses, and maladies which 
God had sent her in more than usual abundance, not 
to speak of the penances which she imposed upon her- 
self. What did she not do in this respect, and what 
did she not obtain ! How grateful Eome ought to he 
to her,* he exclaims ; ' one day, please God, this will 
be known ! When she offered herself to God for the 
peace of the Church, she knew that these offerings were 
to cost her an aggravation of sufferings, maladies, and 
persecutions, because the Divine Justice exercised Itself 
upon her.' 

She was left in no doubt on this point, for hea- 
venly locutions had apprised her of it. We shall have 
to return to this subject when we come to speak of her 
as a victim of expiation ; at present we advert to it 
simply in illustration of her ardent love for the Church 
of God. This love sprang from the vivid spiritual per- 
ceptions which she had by faith ; for faith is ' the 
evidence of things which appear not,' and reveals them 
as they truly are, making the soul to realise their pro- 
per value ; a truth of which the eleventh chapter of 
St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews contains so magni- 
ficent an exposition. This might seem to be the place 
to allude to the many miracles of healing which she 
wrought, as exhibiting the extraordinary power of her 
faith. That she possessed that eminent faith which is 
numbered among the gifts gratis data,^' we have her 

* The gifts gratis data are thus enumerated by St. Paul in 
his first Epistle to the Corinthians (xii. 8-10) : ' To one ])y the 



S6 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

confessor's testimony ; but as theologians generally refer 
riiracles, not to the gift of faith, but to that of healing, 
(>7 of miracles, we abstain here from citing them as 
Ir .stances. ■^■■ 

Although we have deferred speaking of Anna Maria's 
f'.evotion to the Blessed Sacrament, as well as to our 
J ady, the Saints, and Angels, till we come to dwell 
w.ore particularly on her special devotions, yet this place 
'jeems peculiarly fitting for allusion to a devotion which 
n^as in her so prominent from the first : we mean de- 
rotion to the Blessed Trinity; and this on account of 



Fpirit is given the word of wisdom ; and to another the word of 
?inowledge, according to the same Spirit. To another faith in 
the same Spirit; to another the grace of healing in one Spii'it; 
Uo another, the working of miracles ; to another, prophecy ; to 
another, the discerning of spirits ; to another, diverse kinds of 
'iongiies ; to another, interpretation of speeches :' in all nine. 

* ' By the grace gratis data of faith, some understand that 
faith which is the mother of miracles, because it produces them 
fill. . . . Such a faith is excellent, because, besides theological 
faith, it includes an heroic faith. . . . But in reality this faith 
belongs to the 4th or 5th gTace gratis data, wherein prodigies 
are spoken of. Others by the (gratuitous) gift of faith under- 
stand the gift of professing and preaching intrepidly the mys- 
teries of our holy faith ; but it does not appear that this gift 
implies, beyond theological faith, anything more than a gTeat 
constancy and fortitude in openly professing the holy faith, or 
n great zeal in promulgating it. ... I shall adhere, then, to the 
Angelical Doctor in stating that faith, as a grace gratis data, 
consists in a super eminent certainty of the truths which be- 
long to our faith, not in order to their belief, but in order to 
their manifestation to others and for the instructing them well 
therein. . . . The grace of faith consists in the infused virtue of 
faith (which theologians rank first), without which none can be 
just or can be saved. . . . The grace (gratis data) of faith con- 
sists in a most eminent assurance which God adds by His light 
to the common faith, in order to render the subject apt to in- 
struct others concerning the Catholic verities of faith, which are 
the first and infallible principles of Catholic doctrine.' Scara- 
melli, Direttorio lllistico, vol. i. pp. 64, 5. 



HER DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED TRINITY. 97 

the preeminence of that ^ royal dogma of the faith,' as 
Father Faber emphatically calls it, and the ^ queen of 
all mysteries/ nay, the very ' Object of our faith,' in a 
sense in which no other is. ' There is not a movement 
in the whole Church,' says the same spiritual writer in 
his work on The Blessed Sacrament ^^ ' not a doctrine 
or a rite, or a ceremonial, or an exercise of jurisdiction, 
not an energy of power and of benevolence, but, rightly 
interpreted, is an act of worship of the Most Holy and 
Undivided Trinity. There is not a church opened, a 
sacrament administered or received, a sacrifice offered, 
or a devotion practised, the honour and the glory of 
which does not reach to the Holy Trinity/ Yet while 
adoration of the Blessed Trinity forms thus the sum 
and substance of all Christian devotion, nevertheless a 
prominent and special devotion to this Mystery of all 
mysteries, the head and fountain of all the rest, is not 
usually a characteristic of the commencement of a life 
of perfection. It is rather the goal to which the per- 
fected soul tends, and in which it rests as its- centre, 
when it has been so blessed as to attain to it. ' What 
proves/ says one of her biographers, ' that Anna Maria 
was raised betimes to the heights of the supernatural 
life, is the devotion which she had, from the earliest 
period of her conversion, to the mystery of the Holy 
Trinity. Assuredly this great and profound mystery 
merits the adoration, veneration, homage, and worship 
of all Christians, because it is the first of all mysteries, 
the source and term of all the others ; yet experience 
teaches us that the greater number even of pious per- 
sons fail to reach these heights. The cultus of this 
mystery is reserved for souls of no- common order, 
souls whose courage and generosity permit them to as- 
* Pp. 285, G. 

H 



98 V. ANNA MAEIA TAIGI. 

cend high enough to gaze in contemplation, through the 
ohscurities of faith, on the august abysses of the Unity 
of our God in the Holy Trinity of Persons. Anna 
Maria descended and mounted alternately, passing and 
repassing from the sublimities of contemplation to the 
simplicity of practice/'^ This holy Avoman had been 
divinely invited to these lofty heights. Her confessor 
tells us that one day, ^vhen she was praying in the 
church of the Carmelites, before an altar where a pic- 
ture representing the Most Holy Trinity was exposed, 
she heard, being rapt in an ecstasy, the voice of her 
Lord inviting her to the adoration of this great Mystery. 
This divine locution greatl}" intensified the attraction 
which already drew her loving heart to a worship of 
which (as Father Faber te-ls us+) one of the leading 
characteristics is tenderness. 

It was Anna Maria's great devotion to the Blessed 
Trinity which prouipted her when, after her conver- 
sion, she desired to become a Tertiary of some religious 
order, as the nearest approach to the religious state 
which she, as a married woman, could make, to select 
that of the Discalced Trinitarians. J On being ques- 

* P. Gabriel Bouffier, Vie de laVenerahle Servante de Dieu, 
Anna-Maria Taigi, p. 93. 

t Notes on Doctrinal and Spiritual Subjects, vol. i. p. 3. 

I The Order of Trinitarians for the Kedemption of Captives 
was f offended by St. John of Matha and St. Felix of Valois, and 
formallv approved by Innocent III. in 1198. An association of 
lay-persons, to aid the Brothers in theii- charitable labours and 
to join with them in honoiiring in a special manner the Ever- 
Blessed Trinity, was formed later by the saintly founder, and 
erected into a Thii*d Order by Pope Honorins III. on the 7th 
May, 1217. ' This institute,' says Mgi*. de Segur, 'is not a 
simple confraternity ; it is a genuine order, as the Holy See has 
foi-mally declared. "We decree and declare," says Pope Bene- 
dict XIIL, "that the Thii-d Order [of the Trinitarians] is truly 
and properly an order, including within its unity seculars living 



HER DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED TRINITY. 99 

tioned by her confessor, P. Angelo, as to her motives 
and object in becoming a Tertiary, she replied that her 
motive was an ardent desiTe to offer herself to the Lord, 
so as to belong to Him irrevocably. * I should desire,' 
she said, - to be before Him a real and constant victim 
for all the sins committed in the entire world against 
the Divine Majesty.' She already understood her mis- 
sion. ' It is well,' he rejoined ; ^ God assuredly wills 
this of you — ^that you should be a religious in the midst 
of the world.' Having obtained her spiritual father's 
sanction, the next thing was to gain her husband's per- 
mission, which, as we have seen, he granted ; it being 
understood that the Fathers received her only on the 
condition that she should continue to perform the duties 
of her secular state as a wife and a mother. 8he was 
received in the church of the Convent of San Carlino.-'" 
One of the Fathers, P. Giovanni of the Visitation, a 
man of eminent virtue, who was afterwards created 
Minister General of the Discalced Trinitarians, thus 



in the world. It has its own rule, its novitiate, its profession, 
and a habit of a particular material and form." ' The Tertiary, 
in short, is one who lives as a Religious in the world, so far as 
this is possible. The Trinitarian Tertiary engages to live in 
the world the life which is proper to the Trinitarian Religious ; 
a life of povei-ty, penance, and humility, but, above all, a life 
of active and disinterested charity towards his neighbour, the 
exact opposite of the worldly life, which is one of avarice, sen- 
suality, selfishness, and pride. Special indulgences have been 
granted to this order by successive Pontiffs, all applicable to the 
souls in Purgatory. Pius IX. , by a rescript of the 22d March, 
1847, renewed and added to them. 

* San Carlino alle quattro fontane, one of the four Trini- 
tarian Convents of Rome. The Trinitarians at San Carlino 
were Spaniards. The Chapel of San Carlino, or little St. Charle?, 
was dedicated to St. Charles Borromeo, and was so designated 
to distinguish it from largeu churches in Rome of the same 



100 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

refers to the ceremony in his juridical deposition. It 
"will be observed that it contains an instance of the 
prompt and perfect obedience which she always paid 
to her confessors. * Anna Maria was in a state of great 
fervour ; the sensibility of her heart and the ardour of 
her devotion were excited to the highest point by the 
novelty of tliis ceremony, so moving in itself, but, more 
than all, by the prospect of the total self-despoilment 
which she was about to make, at the foot of the altar, 
of all that she had loved in the world, in order to put 
on for ever the insignia of poverty and penance. From 
the very commencement of the ceremony she experi- 
enced through her whole being an extraordinary com- 
motion. In vain did she strive -to check her tears and 
sobs, and to repress the boundings of love and the burn- 
ing sighs which arose within her. Il^othing seemed 
capable of calming the agitation of her mind. The 
voice of obedience had alone this power. P. Fernando, 
who was giving her the holy habit, had been her con- 
essor, at least at intervals. He commanded her to 
cease those exterior movements of devotion, which in- 
terfered with the good order of the holy function. At 
once all agitation ceased, to the great surprise of the 
assistants, and the Venerable passed instantaneously 
from the involuntary demonstrations of an unaccustomed 
fervour to a state of perfect tranquillity, in which you 
could no longer perceive in her countenance aught but 
the sweet shining of a heavenly ecstasy, and during 
the whole remainder of the ceremony, which was pretty 
long, she continued to maintain the most perfect recol- 
lection. One could nevertheless discern through it 
what must have been the secret operations of grace in 
her soul. All the fortunate witnesses of this scene were 
affected to tears. From that time they conceived the 



HER DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED TRINITY. 101 

highest opinion of Anna Maria, and regarded her as a 
holy soul, to whom God had accorded great privileges.' 

It will be noticed that the case was widely different 
from what might have borne a practical resemblance to 
it in the natural order. A person moved even by a 
sincere fervour to abandon herself to unchecked demon- 
strations of an excited character might, very likely, at 
the admonition of a priest, have possessed sufficient 
self-command to check these natural ebullitions; but 
the result would probably have been a certain tempo- 
rary abashment, and, even if calm gravity had taken 
the place of fervid excitement, she would not have in- 
stantly passed into another state of devotion equally 
striking and far more unusual. Eor Anna Maria seems 
at once to have experienced a change which He who 
inwardly prays in the faithful could alone have oper- 
ated ; an ecstatic state of calm interior union being ap- 
parently substituted, without the intervention of an 
instant of time, for that of sensible devotion with all 
its irrepressible external manifestations. 

From the moment that Anna Maria was thus bound 
more closely to the service of God through her affilia- 
tion to a religious order, her charity knew no bounds, 
and her mortifications and penitential exercises were 
restrained only within such limits as the discretion of 
her confessor imposed upon her, and to which she al- 
ways submitted. The desire to imitate Jesus Christ 
Crucified and to unite herself intimately to Him be- 
came now, more than ever, the one prevailing occupa- 
tion of her mind. P. Calixte (himself a Trinitarian 
and one of Anna Maria's most approved biographers) 
says that it was shortly after she had been received as 
Tertiary that, prostrate one day at the foot of the Cru- 
cifix, in her little oratory, after inflicting on herself a 



102 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

severe discipline, she first beheld that mysterious sun 
which was to accompany her through life. All ac- 
counts agree in stating that she saw it first while thus 
engaged, and that it occurred during the early days of 
her conversion. Her confessor bade her ask of God an 
explanation of this extraordinary phenomenon, and she 
received for answer : ^ This is a mirror which I cause 
you to see, that you may understand good and evil.'* 
Her confessor then enjoined her to beg God to with- 
draw this gift, and communicate it to virgins in monas- 
teries rather than to a married woman. Anna Maria 
again obeyed ; but our Lord was not well pleased with 
the command which had been given her, for He replied 
that God is free to do as He wills ; that no one ought 
to be presumptuous enough to wish to penetrate His 
secrets ; and that the confessor ought to limit himself 
to performing his duty and not go beyond it. The 
light of the sun (which we shall hereafter describe) was 
at the beginning of the colour of flame and the disc 
itself like dead gold. But in proportion as Anna Maria 
made progress in virtue its brilliancy increased, until, 
although she was fortified to behold its splendour, it 
exceeded, as she said, that of seven suns. 

Anna Maria used to perform with utmost punctual- 
ity all the exercises of the association, and endeavour 
by every means in her power to propagate the devotion. 
She paid frequent visits to the Church of the Trini- 
tarians, where she would ofi'er the most fervent prayers 
for those Christian slaves who were groaning in bond- 
age to the infidels, and often obtained their liberation, 
as was supernaturally revealed to her. ^ She joined to 
prayer,' says Cardinal Pedicini, * special penances in 

* * Questo e uno specchio che io ti f accio vedere, perche tu 
capisca 11 bene e il male.' 



HER SUBLIME HOPE. 103 

addition to those wliich. she habitually performed, 
mortifications both spiritual and corporal, visits to the 
Seven Basilicas, prolonged fasts, pilgrimages barefoot 
to the holy Crucifix of San Paolo fuori le mura, of 
which I have been many times the eye-witness in com- 
pany with her confessor. In the first years she had 
often to write letters ; she began them with the Name 
of the Trinity : " Praised be the Holy Trinity,^' &c. If, 
when visiting the sick, she was requested to make the 
sign of the cross upon them, or to let them touch the 
Madonna which she wore on her heart, she never failed 
to call with reverence on the Most Holy Trinity to ob- 
tain by the merits of the Virgin the desired grace.' 

Such, then, and far greater than we can say, was 
the faith of Anna Maria, and such her devotion to the 
great primal Object of faith, the Ever-Blessed and 
Adorable Trinity. 



CHAPTEE VIIL 

ANNA MARIA'S SUBLIME HOPE AND CONFIDENCE IN GOD. 

Hope, the second of the theological virtues, while 
it resembles faith in the distinctive character of these 
virtues, namely, in having God for its immediate ob- 
ject, differs from it in this, that it disposes the will to 
hope in God, whereas faith is a virtue which resides in 
the understanding, which it illuminates and elevates to 
believe that God is, and that all that He has revealed 
is most true. Hope, then, resides in the will, to raise 
it to an expectation of God, looking to receive from 
Him eternal happiness in the possession of Him. ^e- 



104 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

vertheless, the two virtues are closely united ; hope 
having its roots, so to say, in faith, which enlightens 
the mind to know that man's beatitude is in God; that 
it is his ultimate end ; that God calls him thereto, and 
gives him the means which suffice for its attainment. 
This knowledge moves the will to raise itself towards 
God and to look forward to the possession of Him 
hereafter ; and, because of itself it could not reach so 
high, God infuses the divine virtue of hope into the 
soul to fortify its natural weakness in this expectation 
and aspiration. Hope prompts also many other acts in 
the soul with reference to God, as the object of its de- 
sire, but this expectation may be regarded as its proper 
and distinctive character. Moreover, even as faith 
which moves the understanding to believe in God as 
its first and principal object, inclines it also to believe 
many other things, external to God, which He has re- 
vealed, thus also the second theological virtue, which 
moves the will to hope for God as its prime and prin- 
cipal object, disposes it also to hope for many other 
goods which proceed from God, and which are sub- 
servient to the accomplishment of man's beatitude or 
are means to its attainment.* As the soul is also in 
man joined to a body, in union with which body he 
has to work out his salvation, and as this body has 
certain needs, the supply of which are conditions of its 
life, divine hope produces, secondarily, a confidence 
that God will give what is needful in this respect, so 
long as it is His pleasure to prolong the period of our 
probation on earth. He who has given the greater 
will assuredly give, the less : such is the nature of the 
Apostle's argument when he says, ' He that spared 
not even His own Son, but delivered Him up for us 
''-' See Bail, La Theologie Affective, torn. iii. med. xii. 



HER SUBLIME HOPE. 105 

all, how hath He not also, with Him, given ns all 
things?'* 

Eegarding the sphere of hope, then, as embracing 
all these various objects, we will dwell awhile on the 
sublime degree in which this great servant of God pos- 
sessed this virtue. As faith does homage to God's 
truth, so hope honours His goodness towards us, and 
His fidelity to His promises, which assure to us our 
reward through the instrumentality of specified means, 
even as the act of hope we. make expresses. These 
means, as all know, whereby grace, the remission of 
sins, and eternal blessedness in the possession of God 
are to be attained, are the merits of Jesus Christ ; but 
under this comprehensive head is implicitly contained 
all which the merits of the God-Man have won for us : 
the precious and abundant treasure of assistance and 
encouragement in our heavenward path which He pur- 
chased for us by His Blood ; the patronage of His Im- 
maculate Mother, whom He has given to us for our 
mother also ; the intercession of His saints ; and every 
other aid which we can look and hope for as His 
followers and His members. Unhappy aliens from the 
faith, born disinherited, and brought up in ignorance of 
what is the true and glorious portion of the children of 
God, reproach us for making the gifts of His love and 
the rich appanage which His Incarnation, His Passion, 
and His Death on the Cross bring in their train, and of 
which we are constituted the inheritors by our alliance 
with Him, the objects of our hope and of our con- 
fidence ; as if we substituted them for Him at whose 
hands and through whose merits we receive them. But 
it is their ignorance of the true character and the posi- 
tion in the Christian scheme of the Theological Virtues 
'^' Rom. viii. 32. 



106 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

which makes it possible for them to entertain such 
erroneous notions. 

These are the terms in which the confessor speaks 
of Anna Maria's hope in God : — ^ Although her life was 
one entire and unceasing exercise of works of piety, 
nevertheless she founded her hope of eternal salvation 
solel}^ on the merits of Jesus Christ, and on the inter- 
cession of the Blessed A'irgin and of the saints, her 
patrons, to whom she had constant recourse for this 
object. Her thoughts and prayers, day and night, were 
applied to this intention. On her part, she judged 
herself unworthy of everything, and her continual ex- 
clamation was, '^ Peccavi ; Domine, miserere mei — I 
have sinned ; Lord, have mercy on me." ' This detesta- 
tion of her past sins was always present to her, and she 
was continually applying her self-imposed penances and 
mortifications, as well as the numerous crosses and 
sufferings which were daily sent to her by God, to efface 
them. But this deep sense of sin never discouraged or 
disheartened her, for her hope was placed, not on her- 
self, but on Him who could never fail her. Her con- 
fidence in Him was the counterpart of her non-esteem 
and contempt of self. This confidence imparted to her 
petitions a holy ardour and a fearless pertinacity, which, 
if we may permit ourselves such an expression, God 
seems unable to resist. When the Word was made 
flesh and dwelt amongst us. He often, as we learn from 
the Gospel narrative, encouraged, rewarded, and praised 
this audacity and persistency in prayer. Those who 
insisted on being heard were heard, and importunity 
never failed of success. Thus did He who was the 
' Brightness of His Father's Glory and the Figure of 
His Substance,' the Only-Begotten Son, revealing in 
the acts of His Sacred Humanity what was the true 



HER SUBLIME HOPE. 107 

character of the Invisible and Incomprehensible God, 
assure us beyond the possibility of error, that a filial 
and holy violence is acceptable to Him, and that He 
can refuse nothing to it. 

* Eor Anna Maria/ says Cardinal Pedicini, ^ God was 
the most loving father, the most generous benefactor, 
the most faithful friend, the most precious treasure, and 
her only all. She exhorted all whom she loved to place 
their whole trust in Him in all affairs, however difficult, 
whether of the spiritual or temporal order. She did 
not like to see persons pusillanimous and timid, being 
desirous, on the contrary, that God should be served 
faithfully and with all the energy of our souls, but at 
the same time with love and with a perfect confidence 
in His great goodness and mercy.' She w^as an enemy 
to melancholy and down-heartedness, knowing how dis- 
pleasing these tempers are to God. Mgr. Luquet re- 
cords some words which our Lord once addressed to 
her on this subject, indicating the dangers of sadness, 
and the evil which it works in souls. He manifested 
to her also the root of pride and insincerity from which 
it often springs. ^ If the cunning serpent,' He said, ^ suc- 
ceeds in casting hearts into profound sadness, be sure 
that he has laid his nets there, that he is drawing these 
souls to the brink of a precipice, and that a special grace 
is needed to deliver them. Dost thou know what My 
dear Philip' (St. Philip Keri) Mid when a taciturn, 
proud, and insincere person came to him ? He drove 
him away, and would not hear him. But if a sinner 
came to him of a cordial, loving disposition, full of 
frankness, he pressed him to his bosom, and did not 
leave him till he had placed him in the way of sancti- 
fication.' And at another time, * Take care, My daugh- 
ter, and be not affrighted. If the devil perceives that 



108 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

thou givest way to fear, he has obtained the victory.' 
Accordingly, Anna Maria, as Cardinal Pedicini observes, 
earnestly recommended people ^ not to allow themselves 
to be cast down by a spirit of fear, which, when carried 
too far, leads to discouragement, of which the devil 
knows how to profit by besetting the road of virtue and 
the service of so good a God, who is so full of love and 
kindness to His creatures, with difficulties ever more 
and more perplexing.' The Lord was pleased visibly 
to recompense the filial confidence which she reposed 
in Him, even in the smallest temporal matters. It hap- 
pened frequently, as both the Cardinal and confessor 
testify, that when Anna Maria felt moved to visit the 
Seven Basilicas without having a soldo at her disposal 
to meet the little outlay needed for her companions, 
she would beg God to supply what was wanted, and 
before the close of the day some one unexpectedly would 
bring all that was requisite. !N^ay more ; Anna Maria's 
confidence in God almost invariably obtained fair 
weather for the little party, a proof, if any were want- 
ing, that our good Lord loves us to have recourse to 
Him, like little children, in smaller things as in the 
greater. 

' How often did it not happen,' writes the Cardinal, 
' that the visit of the Seven Basilicas would be com- 
menced in rainy and threatening weather.' (The showers 
in Eome, it may be observed, are often like drenching 
water-spouts.) * But Anna Maria, confiding in God, 
who is Master of the elements, was not discouraged, and 
the day generally proved fine. Her undoubting trust 
dispelled the clouds and storms and restored serenity. 
Many a time, whether after returning or in the course of 
the pilgrimage, and in a thousand similar circumstances, 
the goodness of God towards His humble servant, who 



HER SUBLIME HOPE. 109 

hoped in Him for everything, was clearly perceived by 
others/ Eut whatever the weather might be, she was 
still substantially heard, in that the object of her request 
was the accomplishment of an act of devotion without 
hindrance or discouragement to any of her companions. 
* Kain sometimes fell,' continues the same witness, ' but 
it was a thing unheard-of that any of the party suffered 
in health ; Anna Maria's hope was in this point never 
deceived.' So firm was her conviction of the power of 
this virtue with God, that she was always exhorting 
others not to place their confidence in men, who turn 
at every wind, but in God, who is unchangeable in His 
promises. Indeed, it was a favourite saying of hers 
that 'man is a weather-cock and God alone* stable.' 
Ey this filial confidence, we are assured, she almost 
always got what she asked for, never allowing herself 
to be cast down by the obstacles which arose or by the 
delay of God in granting her petitions. * If,' says the 
same witness, * after having prayed, and done all that 
depended upon herself, to procure for her neighbour the 
graces she solicited, she did not succeed (and this was 
rare indeed, for her prayers were almost always heard), 
then, far from disquieting herself, she adored the de- 
signs of God, and humbled herself before Him, and be- 
fore men, being well persuaded that God disposes all 
for our good when we have recourse to Him by prayer.' 
It was the same in the affair of her own salvation. 
Knowing that man left to himself, without grace and 
without supernatural succours, can in this matter only 
act amiss, and is, indeed, incapable of conceiving the 
least thought which is truly good or meritorious of 
eternal life, she was continually imploring divine aid 
and begging the assistance of her heavenly intercessors. 
*To these mediations,' says the Cardinal, 'she solely 



110 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

attributed the graces she obtained ; on all occasions she 
acknowledged herself as unworthy of them, and as not 
deserving that the earth should support her, as she often 
said. She had such low sentiments of herself, that she 
was ever praying God to have her in His keeping, and 
to grant her perseverance in the midst of her sufferings, 
for she dreaded not being able to endure them ; at the 
same time she hoped all, confiding in the merits of Jesus 
Christ and in the assistance of the Blessed Virgin, the 
Angels, and the Saints.' Thus it is that hope and re- 
liance on God are invariably proportioned to a true mis- 
trust of ourselves — a true mistrust ; for there is a false 
mistrust, a mere human discouragement, the effect of 
timidity or of disappointment from previous failure. 
That kind of mistrust Anna Maria, as we have seen, 
did not favour or approve. 

Her hope, beiilg thus founded on the most solid 
principles, partook of their immutable firmness. When 
praying for the wants of the Church, of the State, or of 
individuals, no obstacles availed to check her fervour 
or perseverance ; the greatest difficulties could not cause 
her to lose heart : for what were difficulties in the way 
of God ? Her principle was, that when man has done 
all he can, it is for God to do the rest — to do all, in 
fact; and she used to say that the more arduous an 
affair seemed to be, the more was God pledged to take 
it in hand, because it became His work, and that ob- 
stacles are often removed in ways most unforeseen. 
* In the most difficult and complicated affairs, whether 
of the Church or of the State,' writes the confessor, 
*she prayed, and prayed always with a hope and a 
courage which never faltered, and which merited for 
her, even in the first years of her fervour, the most 
singular promises from God. He promised her, in 



HER SUBLIME HOPE. Ill 

effect, to cut the thread of all the sanguinary conspira- 
cies which impious men yere plotting against Eome ; 
and this promise was always fulfilled. Unworthy and 
miserable sinner as she esteemed herself, yet she was 
confident of obtaining all that she asked by the merits 
of Jesus Christ : the triumph of the Church and the 
preservation of the Pope, as well as all the graces and 
favours she requested in behalf of bislfops, cardinals, 
priests, religious, and all classes of persons, but.specially 
of sinners. 

* What did she not obtain,' says the confessor, ^ by 
this lively hope and perfect confidence ! How many 
ecclesiastics, some of high dignity, adopted a line of 
conduct more conformable to their state ! High and 
low, nobles and common people, rich and poor, all ex- 
perienced the efiects of her lively hope in God. As- 
sassins and criminals sentenced to death felt it also in 
their turn, inasmuch as her firm confidence discharged 
the debts they owed to Divine Justice ; for she never 
ceased praying until she had received from her Divine 
Spouse the assurance that the grace was accorded, al- 
though she had to pay for it afterwards in crosses and 
aggravated sufi'erings.' Full of the energy inspired by 
her own invincible hope, she knew also how to encour- 
age sinners. When she»had succeeded in shaking and 
alarming them, and had made them recognise their de- 
plorable condition, straightway she animated them to 
place their entire confidence in God. Indeed, none did 
she exhort more strongly to the practice of this virtue 
than sinners ; and no sooner had she happily brought 
an offender to this state of penitence and hope than, like 
one who has made a valuable purchase or acquisition, 
she hastened joyfully to charge herself with the debt he 
had incurred and pay the penance duo for his sins. 



112 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

While, however, she showed herself an enemy to 
that fear which springs from l^uman infirmity and want 
of reliance on God, she well knew that there was also 
a salutary fear which ought always to go hand in hand 
with hope, — seeing that otherwise hope degenerates into 
presumption, — a fear lest we should be wanting on our 
part ; but this kind of fear animates to exertion, instead 
of plunging into despondency. Did she desire to ob- 
tain any spiritual favours, all her prayers were preceded 
and accompanied with a train of good works and peni- 
tential exercises ; and in the case of temporal affairs, she 
took care to do besides all that prudence suggested in 
order to insure success. * Although she relied upon 
Providence,' says the confessor, ' for the needs of her 
family, she did not remain with her hands by her side, 
as people say, but vv^orked night and day to earn what 
she could. When her work did not suffice, she had re- 
course to God, with the assurance of obtaining every- 
thing, because she had done all that depended on her- 
self.' Her husband bears testimony to the same effect, 
that, though full of trust in God and always praying, 
she was never idle. ' She did not,' he says in his homely 
but forcible way, ^ wait for the basket to come down 
from Heaven without doing anything herself. . . . She 
joined labour to prayer, in ordar not to tempt God, by 
seeming to expect that He should work a miracle for 
her. When she found herself in a position of real 
necessity, she addressed herself to God with all the 
greater confi.dence, and the Lord helped her so well 
that the maintenance of her numerous family without 
their ever suffering want was a continual miracle.' And 
again, alluding to her perfect tranquillity of mind at the 
most critical times, and the marvellous manner in which 
the necessities of the family were constantly supplied, 



HER SUBLIME HOPE. 113 

he says, ^ What could I have done, with my ifalary of 
six scudi a month, if I had not had the servant of God ? 
I had committed to her all the care of the house, I let 
her do as she chose and go wherever she pleased, he- 
cause I ohserved that when she had heen performing 
some devotion Providence came to our aid. On these 
occasions she would go to the Crucifix of San Paolo, or 
to that of San Pietro in Carcere, or to Santa Cecilia/ 

But this seeking of daily hread was all ordered to 
a higher end. It was not a mere cry of necessity to 
the Good Father on whom, as Scripture tells us, even 
the ^ young ravens call,' and the ' lions, seeking their 
meat from God.''^* We, His intelligent creatures, the 
children of His love, called to sit at the eternal banquet 
which He is preparing for us in our true home, can 
never ask, or, at least, ought never to ask, for the sup- 
ply of our temporal needs with a primary and exclusive 
eye to them. ' It is needless for me to say,' observes 
Domenico, Hhat her faith and her hope were all for 
the gaining Paradise ; her conversation with me, and 
with every one in the house, plainly showed that she 
was enamoured of Heaven, without any pre-occupation 
concerning the things of earth. She might have made 
herself comfortably rich, if she had sought this world's 
goods; but she was contented to labour, in order to 
maintain the ftimily as well as she could, and did not 
ccncern herself in the smallest degree to profit by the 
persons who frequented her company. The friendship 
which the late Queen of Etruria felt for her would have 
alone sufficed to relieve us from our straits.' 

We feel bound to give liis meed of praise to this 
honest man. Assuredly Domenico was no saint ; ho 
was, indeed, a very ordinary, commonplace sort of Chris- 
* Ps. cxlvi. 9, ciii. 21. 

I 



114 V. ANNA MARIA TxVIGI. 

tian, with his fair quota of faults and imperfections ; 
he was, moreover, one upon whom the necessities of a 
laborious life weighed heavily. He had little rest, scant 
leisure, drudging on at a monotonous routine of daily 
service in the house of the rich, to return wearied and 
jaded to his own humble home, often when the sun 
was about to rise to light another day, which was to 
set, like the one just closed, on another round of toil. 
And then there were his children to provide for upon 
extremely small means. Anxiety for their interests 
seemed, not merely excusable, but a parental duty; 
and meanwhile here w^ere affluent persons, not only 
ready, but desirous, to relieve his family and secure them 
a competency, if only his wife would hold out her hand 
to receive what was offered, or, rather, not draw it back 
from accepting what was eagerly pressed upon her. If 
she would but consent to act thus, all this solicitude 
might be removed, and comfort and ease insured for 
life to himself and those who were dependent on him. 
Had Domenico, then, been troublesome to his wife on 
this point, and taken it ill of her that she would not 
agree to do what seemed so reasonable and proper, we 
could scarcely have wondered, or even have passed a 
very severe censure on one who, not sharing the high 
graces and gifts of his partner in life, might well not 
understand conduct that sprang from exalted motives 
of the supernatural order. Yet he does not appear 
either to have been displeased with her, or to have 
urged upon her an opposite course with any earnestness 
or pertinacity. This unheroic man had, it must be con- 
cluded, a faith strong enough to restrain him from in- 
terfering with what seemed to be God's will, and from 
checking the attractions and aspirations of her who was 
spiritually more highly favoured than himself, although 



IIER SUBLIME HOrS. 115 

I 

he shared the sacrifice of temporal advantage which 
these entailed. Here is what he says on this subject. 
^ A crowd of distinguished persons used to come to my 
house to see her — nobles, prelates, and others. I would 
say to her, Why don't you think of mentioning such 
and such a thing to this person or that, for the sake of 
the family? She would immediately answer me, "0, 
let us place our trust in God ; let us hope in Ood ;" 
with other like expressions, which closed my mouth. 
ITevertheless, her faith and confidence in God were so 
great, that we never wanted for anything, even at the 
most critical periods. God be blessed a thousand times !' 
Eut, it may be said, why did Anna Maria thus de- 
cline for husband and children help which they so much 
needed, and thus impose on them a poverty which, had 
she stood singly, she would have been free to accept or 
choose meritoriously for herself alone ? It was because 
she knew that it was her Lord's will. She knew that 
He desired that she should remain poor, and her family 
also be dependent on Him day by day for daily bread ; 
thus offering in the midst of the world an example 
of perfect voluntary poverty and disengagement from 
earthly possessions all the more striking that, unlike 
the irrevocable sacrifice once for all which the Eeligious 
makes, unsurpassed in itself as such a renunciation is, 
hers was to have the additional merit of being in a 
manner renewed every day, since every day it was open 
to her to relieve herself and, what was to her of much 
more moment, those belonging to her from these strait- 
ened circumstances, without violating any divine pre- 
cept or breaking any vow^ She was to exemplify be- 
fore the world that which the very words of the ^ Pater 
Noster' teach, the daily dependence on his Heavenly 
Father which the Christian ought to feel. True, all 



116 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

Christians are not called to act as she did ; they are 
not bound to refuse a provision for their family, nor 
forbidden, in any other prudent way, to keep future 
wants in view or to plan and lay np accordingly ; but 
all are forbidden to do this in a spirit which tends to 
foster, first, anxiety in the process of acquiring and, 
next, a sense of security and independence of God when 
competence or affluence has been obtained. It was not 
for the fulness of his barns that the rich man was re- 
proved, but for this godless sense of security, expressed 
in those words of his : ^ Soul, thou hast much goods 
laid up for moMij years ;' this was why he was called 
* a fool' by the mouth of unerring Wisdom. 

Anna Maria, then, was by God's special appoint- 
ment to support her numerous family always on the 
verge of extreme poverty, yet never falling into destitu- 
tion, and this as by a continual miracle of God's Provi- 
dence. * Her Heavenly Guide,' says Cardinal Pedicini, 
•* who was leading her on to practise heroic virtue of the 
highest order ever more and more perfectly, never sent 
her abundant resources ; on the contrary. He willed 
that she should live on, day by day, like the birds, as 
she herself said,' often telling her husband, that she 
must have no other granary but that of the Heavenly 
, Father. Human prudence would have suggested that, 
as the family lived thus always on the very border of 
want, no margin (so to say) existing, and no superfluity 
remaining in the best of times, the assumption of any 
fresh charge was not to be contemplated. Yet it was 
in the midst of such narrow circumstances that the 
whole burden of an additional family was thrown upon 
the Taigi. Sofia, as we have already said, rsturned a 
widow to her parents' house, with a train of six. little 
children, and was more than welcomed. Anna Maria, 



HER SUBLIME HOPE. 117 

herself so utterly dependent on God's Providence for 
her sustenance day by day, could nevertheless confi- 
dently hope to provide subsistence for seven more 
mouths — like the Israelites gathering manna, who al- 
ways had enough for their respective needs, enough 
and no more, however much or little they brought 
home — and could besides find' words of cheerful en- 
couragement for her afflicted daughter. 

The following is Sofia's account, as given in her 
deposition : — * Having lost my husband, I returned to 
my paternal home weeping. My mother encouraged 
me, saying, '^ God must provide ; let us place confidence 
in Him, for whoever hopes in Him shall not be con- 
founded." In those days of mourning, amongst other 
thoughts which saddened me, I asked myself how my 
mother, already so cramped for means, could feed me 
and my six children. She called me to her, and said, 
" What are you thinking about ? You must know that 
God never abandons any one ; you will have what you 
need ; place your trust in God, and give no thought to 
anything else : as for me, I will never forsake you." 
Thus it was that she inspired me with confidence, by 
discovering the secret thoughts of my heart.' Anna 
Maria not only continued to place unabated trust in 
God's Providential cai^f of her in seasons of great 
penury, but she desired to remain thus dependent on 
Him ; and with a generous contempt, not only of riches, 
but even of that moderate competence a desire to obtain 
which is a far more common snare, because disguised 
under many plausible motives, she declined the means 
repeatedly proffered to her for its attainment. * Such 
was her contempt for earthly things,' says the confessor, 
* through her ardent desire of heavenly goods, tliat, 
though immersed in poverty, she constantly refused con- 



118 V. ANNA MARIA TATGI. 

siderable alms from persons desirous of knowing her, 
or who went to thank her for signal graces obtained by 
her prayers. She would say on such occasions, ^^ I do 
not serve God for self-interest ; thank the Blessed Vir- 
gin, or such a saint, and not me." ' When these persons 
would urge her to accept what they offered, if not for 
herself, yet in order to give to the poor, it made no 
difference ; and she would tell her benefactors that they 
could very well distribute their alms themselves. 

But it was not merely in such instances as these, 
when a refined delicacy might have prompted refusal of 
anything that bore the appearance of payment for her 
charitable offices, and for the benefit of spiritual assist- 
ance, that this holy woman was immovable in her de- 
termination to refuse all aid ; but in other cases, where 
the offers made sprang from the purest friendship, love, 
and respect which she had personally inspired by her 
eminent virtues, she alike declined them. Maria 
Luisa, Queen of Etruria and afterwards Duchess of 
Lucca, was extremely attached to her, and having had 
occasion to appreciate the value of her counsels, desired 
greatly to have the advantage of her near neighbour- 
hood. She accordingly offered to take Domenico into 
her service with a very good salary : it will be remem- 
bered that the remuneration h^received from the Chigi 
family was but six scudi monthly. Anna Maria thanked 
the duchess for her kindness, but declined accepting 
any offer made with the object of bettering their condi- 
tion. Many a time would Maria Luisa complain that 
her friend never asked her for anything ; and one day, 
when Anna Maria had gone to see her, the princess 
opened a drawer full of gold, and said, 'Take, take, 
ISTanna mia, what you will.' But Anna Maria, smiling, 
answered with that simplicity, freedom, and frankness 



HER SUBLIME HOPE. 119 

whicL. distinguished her in speaking to any one, how- 
ever exalted in rank the person might be, ^ How simple 
you are, Madam ! I serve a Master richer than you ; I 
trust and hope in Him ; and He provides for my daily 
necessities.' About a year before her death, knowing 
the distressed circumstances in which herself and family 
were placed, in consequence of her disabled and afflicted 
state, Cardinal Pedicini offered her an apartment at- 
tached to his own residence. Here she might have 
reckoned on enjoying many advantages in addition to 
that of a gratuitous and comfortable abode, but the very 
reasons which recommended such a plan to human 
prudence, discredited it in the eyes of this waiter on 
Providence. She thanked him most courteously, but 
would not move. Cardinal Fesch made her a like 
offer, but equally without success. 

]N"evertheless, although there were particular cases 
in which she invariably refused help, as we have seen, 
and although she always declined to profit by the op- 
portunities afforded her of improving her condition, 
still, when it was question of actual want, she did not " 
reject the necessary aid which God was pleased to send 
her ; for then she regarded it as the result of His Pro- 
vidential appointment. Sometimes she received a divine 
intimation to this effect ; as when, on one occasion of 
pressing want, she was praying before the Crucifix of 
San Paolo, and, having fallen into an ecstasy, a voice 
told her to return to her house, where she would find 
the assistance she needed ; and, in fact, as soon as she 
reached her dwelling, a letter was put into her hands 
from the Marchese P>andini, written to her from Flo- 
rence, and enclosing a small sum of money. At other 
times, persons would experience a kind of movement 
resembling inspiration, to succour her in her needs; 



120 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

and this would happen in the case of individuals who 
were living at a distance and were very slightly ac- 
quainted with her. Her friend, Cardinal Pedicini, after 
mentioning this striking fact, as a corroborative testi- 
mony to her strong confidence in God, who is wont to 
deal thus with those who lean wholly on Him, says 
that he was himself several times inwardly moved to 
carry her some assistance, although she had never let 
him know that she was in peculiar want at that mo- 
ment. On arriving at her house, he would always find 
his anticipations realised. 

As we throw fuel on fire in order to feed the flame, 
so was Anna Maria in the habit of maintaining hope 
and confidence alive within her by frequent ejaculations, 
• and she recommended a like practice to others, as being 
most profitable. ' She frequently excited the virtue of 
hope in her heart,' says the confessor, * by fervent ejacu- 
lations : such as, ^* Jesus, my hope, have pity on me; 
Mother of hope, pray for me;" and she was in the 
habit of giving utterance to similar ejaculatory prayers 
in the course of the day.' And so the fire was kept 
alight, and she was never taken by surprise or cast on 
her own resources when the hour of trial came ; and 
such hours came to her often, bringing causes for 
anxiety far deeper than any which mere penury could 
produce : as when her son Camillo was drawn for mili- 
tary service during the French occupation. She had 
brought up this son, as she had her other children, 
with the utmost care, training him in the holy fear of 
God and the hatred of sin, and shielding him from 
temptation, so far as lay in her power. But sad times 
had now fallen on Italy and on Eome. The ambition of 
J^apoleon was filling Europe with carnage and ruin and 
bringing desolation to the hearths of countless families, 



HER SUBLIME HOPE. 121 

•who saw those in whom their best hopes were trea- 
sured, the flower of their youth, torn from them to he 
sacrificed to the greed of power and dominion of one 
man. He had iniquitously seized the States of the 
Church, and his troops had taken possession of the 
city of Peter, from which the Yicar of Jesus Christ had 
been dragged away captive. The Eomans were conse- 
quently subjected to that tribute of blood, the terrible 
conscription. In Camillo's case the cruel enactment 
was by some fraud, we are told, stretched beyond its 
legal limits. When Anna Maria heard that her son 
was taken to be enlisted in the army of the IS'orth, then 
about to be engaged in a fierce struggle * in distant and 
barbarous lands, ''^' her mother's heart was pierced with 
grief. We may well imagine how great was her tribu- 
lation, but anxiety for the soul of her child swallowed 
up all other considerations, bitter as these must have 
been ; the thought of the rude and licentious soldiers of 
whom he was to become the companion, the demoral- 
ising and godless life he was about to be compelled to 
lead, and the scenes of violence and disorder in which 
he was to be constrained to bear a part — all this arose 
as a horrible vision before her. She flew to the bar- 
racks, that she might at least see her child before they 
were parted, perhaps for ever, and give him her bless- 
ing together with some last fervent words of counsel. 
But the poor mother met with a repulse : she was not 
allowed to speak with him or even to see him, and re- 
turned all desolate to her home in speechless agony. 
Still, wrung with anguish as was her soul, she made 
no outward demonstrations, but retained her self-pos- 
session, giving utterance to her woe only at the feet of 

* Napoleon was, no doubt, on the eve of his Russian cam* 
paign. 



122 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

Him "who could aid her, though all human help had 
failed. * Jesus/ she exclaimed, ' Thou art my sole 
hope ; save, save my son, and do not permit, Ee- 
deemer of men, that I should have suffered so much for 
him in vain.' Having thus poured out her soul, she 
"was consoled with a secret assurancce that her son 
should be soon restored to her. Here is Domenico's 
account : — ' I rememher when my son Camillo, now 
deceased, was taken for the French conscription ; he 
was fraudulently carried off; and my poor wife re- 
mained for a long time unable to speak. Her grief 
assuredly was very great, she felt it keenly ; neverthe- 
less, she continued silent and resigned, without com- 
plaining of any one, not even of him who we had good 
reason to believe was the cause of this injustice, and 
w^hom she met several times. She encouraged me by 
leading me to hope that Camillo would return ; and he 
did return as if by miracle.' In all trying circum- 
stances she displayed a similar spirit of confidence and 
resignation. ' On the most distressing occasions,' says 
her husband, ' she never worried herself, or broke out 
in groans and sobs, as so many other women commonl}^ 
do ; she kept silence, and contented herself with say- 
ing, " May God's will be done !" Besides, she animated 
and encouraged me to snffer for the love of God. If 
they were things which concerned herself, she remained 
silent and prayed : how many crosses,' he added, * had 
not this blessed soul !' 

Her confidence in God was manifested not only by 
a filial abandonment to His will and by a continual 
looking to Him for consolation and help in her sorrows 
and necessities, but by an heroic perseverance in the 
penitential exercises and other difficult works which she 
had undertaken. As she entered on them always in 



HER SUBLIME HOPE. 123 

tlie strengtli of divine griice, and not from mere natural 
impetuosity, she was not discouraged by obstacles wliich 
would have caused a change of purpose had she acted 
only from human impulse or even ordinary fervour, and 
which, indeed, in common cases would have seemed to 
justify such change. For often, after having begun a 
vigorous fast or other penance, she would be attacked 
with fever, acute internal pains, or excruciating head- 
aches, to which she was liable, but nothing could avail 
to check her save obedience : the prohibition of him 
who had spiritual authority over her was followed ever 
by the most unquestioning acquiescence. In only one 
other case did she modify the rigour of such of her 
mortifications as might injure health, and that was 
when she was about to become a mother, because to 
act otherwise would have been to tempt God and re- 
quire a miracle at His hands. Under all other circum 
stances, her sublime confidence in God made her per- 
severe in spite of illness ; and this trustfulness, after 
being put to the test, would often be recompensed by 
a sudden cure. 

We have seen that she exhorted all whom she knew 
to hope and confidence in God ; and when, probably 
by some inward intimation, she was aware that they 
were capable of the higher degrees of this virtue, she 
would strongly urge upon them its more perfect exer- 
cise. Two instances may here be given. They occurred 
in relation with the confidential priest'' whom, it will 

* Monsignor D. Eaffaele Natali, Abate of San Vittore, Chap- 
lain of the Capella Pontificia, Secretary at one time to Mgr. 
Strambi, and afterwards to Cardinal Barberini. He did not 
become a Roman Prelate until after the death of Anna Maria. 
It was as a priest of Macerata that he first became known to 
Mgr. Strambi, the Bishop of Macerata and Tolentino, who re- 
commended him to the position of confidant of the Venerable 



124 



V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 



be remembered, Cardinal Pedicini had substituted for 
himself in the year 1815. He might have obtained 
some considerable ecclesiastical benefice by the help of 
powerful recommendations which would have been made 
to the Pope in his behalf, had he so desired, but she 
earnestly dissuaded him from availing himself of them. 
The Emperor of Austria wrote twice to his charge 
d affaires at the court of Leo XII. bidding him use his 
interest mth the Pontiff to forward this priest's promo- 
tion, but Anna Maria was unwilling that the Austrian 
minister should even speak to the Dataria in the Em- 
peror's name. But more than this : we find her actually 
hindering him from profiting by the successful exertions 
of friends. Eor when two benefices had become vacant 
by the death of Cardinal Pallotta, and the relatives of 
this priest were in consequence exerting themselves in 
his favour, Anna Maria was resolved that their eftbrts 
should not prove successful,* and told him plainly that 
she was praying God to defeat them. It seems that, 
in point of fact, the acceptance ultimately rested with 
himself; but. Cardinal Gregorio having informed him 
that the Pope (Gregory XYI.) ^as desirous of confer- 
ring the two benefices, which were at Macerata, on an 
ecclesiastic of those parts, the priest, acting by the ad- 



Servant of God. * He is at this day my penitent,' writes P. 
Filippo, Anna Maria's last confessor, in his deposition. ' I 
charged him to take note of everything, and enjoined the pious 
woman to hide nothing from him. She, however, told him 
several times, as he has assured me, that she was under an im- 
possibility of manifesting everything to him, hut that she would 
speak unreservedly to her confessor ; for she used gi-eat circum- 
spection, above all, in matters of conscience and when it was 
question of persons known to this ecclesiastic. Mgr. Natali 
appears among the witnesses, and sui-vived until a very recent 
period. ' 



I 



HER SUBLIME HOPE. 125 

vice of this holy woman, instantly withdrew his claim 
and gave them up to the Holy Father, who was pleased 
to express his satisfaction and to promise him a com- 
pensation in Kome itself. But this engagement escaped 
the Pontiff's memory, nor would Anna Maria permit 
her friend to take any measures, direct or indirect, to 
recall it to his mind. The promise therefore remained 
without effect, and Anna Maria used to tell this good 
priest that he must be content to live on as he was, 
asking alms* for the love of God in behalf of a poor 
family, and abide in the way of humiliations for the 
love of Jesus Christ, in whom he ought to place all his 
hopes. 

The second instance to which we have adverted was 
the following. A young woman of the name of Ursula 
Annibali fled, terrified, from her husband, and took re- 
fuge in Anna Maria's house. He was a man of low 
extraction, bad habits, and a ferocious temper; furious 
at his wife's flight, he was searching for her everywhere. 
Anna Maria charitably received the poor fugitive and 
recommended her in prayer to God. After glancing at 
her mysterious sun, she turned to her companion, the 
confidential priest, and said, ' Go and seek the husband 
of this unfortunate woman : you will tell him that his 
wife is here. I forewarn you, however, that when he 
sees you he will rush at you with a great knife ; but do 



* The deep poverty of Anna Maria and her family in the lat- 
ter period of her life, when she was unable to work, reduced her 
to the necessity of receiving pecuniary assistance. One of her 
spiritual sons contributed a little, and the confessor collected 
some alms ; but, as this aid was insufficient, the priest Natali 
had to make a kind of daily quest, which was a source of inde- 
scribable pain to this holy woman, although he only asked the 
alms as for a poor mother of a family, without mentioning her 
name. 



126 V. ANNA HARIA TAIGI. 

not "be alarmed, trust in God, and invoke His Holy 
Xame in the depth of vonr heart : He will not allow 
yon to perish. Xevertheless administer severe reproofe 
to this man, cOnpled with threats, and he will become 
gentle as a lamb.' All happened as she had said. The 
man rushed at the priest with a knife, and the priest 
followed the directions of her who was to him as a 
spiritual mother. Instantly this hardened mf&an burst 
into tears, and fell upon his knees. Anna Maria had 
the satisfaction of seeing the couple happily reconciled. 
They breakfasted, together at her house, where the re- 
pentant husband had come to seek his wife, and, after 
addressing to them words of earnest exhortation, she 
sent them back to their home in peace. P. Filippo, in 
his deposition, mentions that they were still living at 
that time in perfect harmony. 

One character peculiar to confidence in God, when 
it arrives at an heroic degree, must be noticed in con- 
clusion as having distinguished that of Anna Maria; 
we mean a certain boldness which, had it not been 
authorised by the faith, confidence, and love from 
which it sprang, would have worn the appearance of 
unpardonable familiarity. Similar behaviour is related 
of Saints, and is akin to those paradoxical desires which 
are also recorded of them. 'For the conversion of 
souls,' says the confessor, ' she employed, if the expres- 
sion may be excused, a holy boldness. Burning ejacn- 
laUons, couched in the most energetic language, would 
escape her lips, in the midst of her domestic occupa- 
tions, her pains, crosses, interior sufferings, and mala- 
dies. St. Paul desired to be anathema, and Moses to 
be erased from the book of life, rather than not obtain 
the salvation of their brethren; and in like manner 
this pious woman, making use of affectionate expres- 



HER CHARITY TOWARDS GOD. 127 

sions, significant of a perfect confidence, would re- 
proach, her Divine Sponse, telling Him He did not 
love her, and that if He did not grant her such, or such 
a favour, she should be obliged to quarrel with Him.' 
O unimaginable familiarity with, the Eternal, as unima- 
ginable to our poor cold hearts — w^hich have no title to 
venture on language such as only that perfect love which, 
equalises lovers and, so to say, annihilates distances, 
even when infinite, could reverently use — as is the con- 
descension which deigns not only to excuse but to be 
pleased with these follies of love' ! ' By her fervoar,' 
adds P. Filippo, ^her penances, her faith, and her 
lively confidence, she obtained all.* 



CHAPTEE IX. 

ANNA MARIANS HEROIC CHARITY TOWARDS GOD AND 
TOWARDS HER NEIGHBOUR. 

* Charity,' says a witness of her virtues, * burned 
in the heart of the servant of God with so intense a 
flame, that you might have deemed that her interior 
was a volcano.' Such, and such-like, is the universal 
testimony as to the degree in which the heart of this 
holy woman was inflamed with this greatest of all the 
Christian virtues. The virtues which have God for 
their immediate object, that is, the Theological Virtues, 
faith, hope, and charity, take the highest rank, and 
amongst these charity, as the Apostle testifies, holds 
the most exalted place. Moreover, unlike the other 
two, Avhich will be absorbed in the Beatific Vision, 
when the obscurity of faith will be exchanged for the 



128 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

splendours of sight and unveiled knowledge, and the 
aspirations of hope will be accomplished in the pos- 
session and enjoyment of the Supreme Good, charity 
will eternally endure. Charity is the end of the com- 
mandment, charity is the goal, charity is union with 
God, for God Himself is Charity ; and he who dwells 
in Him (as shall the redeemed for endless ages) dwells 
even here on earth in God and God in him. Hsot that 
the infused virtue of charity is God Himself, the Holy 
Ghost dwelling and loving in the souls of the just, 
with whom some have erroneously confounded it,* hut 
a supernatural gift, created by the Holy Ghost in the 
will of man, where, like hope, it resides, enabling it to 
make acts of the love of God for His own sake, because 
He is infinitely good in Himself. Thus supernatural 
charity loves God with the same love wherewith He 
loves Himself; and herein we see its superiority to 
hope, sublime and essential as is that vhtue, because 
hope regards God as our end and supreme good, and as 
infinitely good to us, while charity regards Him as 
good in Himself, and loves Him because He is so, with 
a love which theologians call the love of benevolence : 
so that — to use a paradoxical form of speech, by making 

* The Master of the Sentences, Peter Lombard, put forth 
the opinion that charity was the Holy Spirit Himself ; meaning 
thereby that our -will formed acts of the love of God immedi- 
ately through the Holy Spuit, and not by the interrention of 
an infused quality, which is the theological yirtue of charity. 
Against this error the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas, followed by 
all eminent theologians, protested ; because the act of love is 
the most meritorious act of the will, and must accordingly be its 
own act. It must therefore be moved thereto by the Holy Ghost 
in such wise that it shall be itself the principle of it and act 
voluntai'ily ; to render it such, this act of love must be formed 
through the means of some quality which the will actually pos- 
sesses. 



HER CHARITY TOWARDS GOD, 129 

an impossible hypothesis — if God did not possess all 
possible good in Himself we should desire it for Him, 
but since He is infinitely perfect, infinitely rich, and 
infinitely blessed in Himself, divine charity rejoices 
in this His essential Perfection and Blessedness ; and, 
unable to desire any increase to the Infinite, it burns 
with ardour to add to it in the only way it can, n'amely, 
by contributing to His external glory. It also causes 
the soul to make God its immediate object in all it 
does, seeking to please Him solely in order to please 
Him, from the pure motive of love, and because He is 
infinitely lovable. IS'or is this motive in any way re- 
pugnant to, nor does it exclude, that which super- 
natural hope inspires, namely, the love of desire, which 
must and ever does accompany it because God has pro - 
j)osed Himself to man as his Sovereign Good ; and, 
when he is enlightened by faith to discern Him as 
such, man would be doing a dishonour to that So- 
vereign Good, which is alone capable of conferring on 
him the perfection to which he is called and for which 
he is destined, if he did not aspire to Its possession. 
* This is why nature is elevated above itself to desire 
its union with God and its repose in its supernatural 
end, and it is to this aspiration that hope raises it.* 
Eut the love of friendship, charity, also seeks this 
union, for it causes us ' to desire the presence or enjoy- 
ment of God, because it is the nature of the love of 
friendship to make us aspire after the presence of the 
loved object when it is absent ; nevertheless, this de- 
sire, proceeding from tlie love by which we desire God 
for His own sake, is an act of charity and not of hope, 
which latter makes us desire God for our own good.'"* 
Thus the two, hope and charity, are intimately and 

* Bail, torn. iii. med. xii. 2. 

K 



130 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

harmoniously conjoined, and botli tend to the same 
end, our union with Him who is our Sovereign Good 
and also the Infinite Good. 

* God,' says the confessor, * was the last end of all 
Anna Maria's actions, of her words, of her thoughts, 
and of the affections of her heart ; Him alone did she 
endeavour to please in all things.' Hence she lived 
continually in His presence, alike at all times and in 
all places. ' Far from having to make an effort to seek 
Him,' says the same witness, ' it required a violent 
exertion on her part to turn away from Him for an in- 
stant. Her heart was ever constrained by the sweet 
necessity of abiding every moment with her God. 
From this we may estimate the progress of her heart 
in divine love. Her Heavenly Spouse, by an extraor- 
dinary mark of His goodness, told her in several locu- 
tions '• that He was pleased to dwell in a special 
manner in her heart, and establish there His chamber 
and place of repose ; and that consequently He was 
always with her, and never left her.' That this was 
indeed the case, and that God was most intimately pre- 
sent to her soul, was evident to all who knew her. 
The generosity with which, after renouncing all the 
joys and interests of life, she bore for years the poig- 
nant sufferings, both external and internal, which were 
laid upon her, was alone sufficient to prove that she 
received supernatural assistance of an extraordinary 
character. Without the presence of this supereminent 
love in her soul, sustaining and invigorating it, she 
neither would nor could have persevered in the hard 
penitential life to, which she had devoted herself, and 
that in spite of the complicated maladies under which 
she laboured. This same fervent love of God made her 
also endure calumnies, contempt, harshness, and con- 



HER CHARITY TOWARDS GOD. 131 

tradictions, not with resignation only, but with hea- 
venly sw^eetness. ^ Without the flame of the most 
ardent charity/ says Cardinal Pedicini, ' she never 
could have supported the long martyrdom of her life.' 
Yet she considered these sufferings (he tells us) as 
being quite valueles.s when compared wdth the love 
which God manifested towards her by His graces and 
gifts. Enduring tortures under which most persons 
would have succumbed, and the tithe of which might 
well have wrung humble complaints from the lips of 
the most virtuous and pious, she was overflowing with 
gratitude from the one thought of God's love to her. 
In the early days of her conversion especially this 
gratitude often expressed itself in tears, and she was 
continually beseeching God that He would deign to 
teach her what she could do to please Him. This in- 
ward fervour, however, did not lead her to hold her- 
self dispensed from making those distinct and formal 
acts of charity which are enjoined upon all Christians. 
Besides repeating them daily with her family before 
their little altar, she used vocally to renew^ this exer- 
cise often in the course of the day and nourish the fire 
of love within her — might we not rather say, suffer it 
to blaze forth in frequent ejaculations and aspirations 
of love 1 For many years, indeed, until the days of in- 
terior trial came on, far from its being needful for her 
to use efforts to keep up these flames of charity, she 
was obliged on the contrary often to restrain the impe- 
tuosity of her heart, and even try to distract her atten- 
tion, in order to be able to acquit herself of her house- 
work. ^ Then,' says the Cardinal, * would begin a 
combat of love between her and her Heavenly Spouse. 
Bound to fulfil her duties as mother towards a family 
of which she was the sole support, she would do all in 



132 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

her power to avoid ecstasies, raptures, and the frequent 
swoonings which would at times deprive her of the use 
of her senses for hours together. But as it was not 
easy to moderate so great a fire, Anna Maria could not 
by any artifice she might adopt withdraw her soul from 
this action of Divine love, even when engaged in her 
domestic avocations. It was truly wonderful to find 
her fixed in an ecstasy, broom in hand, in different 
positions. . , . Going to see her of a morning, as I did 
for many years, it very often happened that I found 
her in an ecstasy, and I was obliged to wait patiently 
till she came to herself again. A rapture would seize 
her sometimes in the midst of the conversation j then 
I had to wait again.' 

The confessor gives a similar accouat of those * mar- 
vellous combats of love' between Anna Maria and the 
Spouse of her soul of which the Cardinal here speaks. 
' AYhat a spectacle,' he says, * it was, to see the pious 
woman take her broom to sweep the house ; the Divine 
Spouse would present Himself to her eyes in the mys- 
terious sun ; as she hastened to look away, she would 
hear the sweet tones of His voice, and, unable to. resist 
these repeated assaults, she would fall into an ecstasy, 
and remain deprived of the use of her senses, still hold- 
ing the broom in her hand : thus she would continue 
for a long time, immovable as a statue, unknown to 
herself; when restored to consciousness, she would 
hasten to repair lost time, and, thanks to God and to 
her great activity, the work was soon finished. At 
other times, when engaged in the kitchen, and busy 
perhaps skimming a saucepan, these raptures of divine 
love would come upon her ; and then the torrent of 
spiritual consolations would obHge her to lean against 
the wall, or to sit down, where she would remain in- 



HER CHARITY TOWARDS GOD. 133 

sensible for some time ; she was afraid afterwards lest 
she should find the fire gone out or the pot upset ; but 
what was her surprise to see all in perfect order !' 
These ecstasies and raptures were, indeed, so frequent 
for several years, that this pious and humble woman, 
intent on performing her household duties for the love 
of God with due punctuality and perfection, used some- 
times to expostulate aff'ectionately with her Lord on 
the subject, saying to Him, with that holy liberty which 
accompanies such love as hers, * Leave me in peace, 
Lord ; leave me to my occupation ; I am a poor mother 
of a family — retire, retire/ But her efforts were all in 
vain. * While she was thus struggling,' says P. Fi- 
lippo, * she would hear the song of a bird, or catch sight 
of some simplest object wherein she read the goodness 
of God, of which all nature spoke to her in a language 
understood by contemplatives alone : thus, in the midst 
of her forced distractions, she found herself vanquished 
on all sides by divine love, the chains of which en- 
veloped and bore her down like a victim.' Similar is 
the testimony given by the Cardinal, who also says 
that a breath of air, the note of a bird, the sight of an 
insect, were quite sufficient to throw her instantaneously 
into an ecstasy. 

This suspension of the senses, caused by those sud- 
den floods of love pouring in upon her soul at the mere 
sight of the works of God's material creation, made it 
dangerous for her to walk alone, and it became neces- 
sary that she should have some confidential person with 
her when going about the streets, where some casual 
object would often produce this effect upon her. In 
such cases she had to lean on her companion, who 
would support and lead her into the nearest church. 
*I was often,' says P. Filippo, * the ocular witness of 



134: V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

her supernatural trances, of her ecstasies and absorption 
in God, when we visited the Seven Basilicas in com- 
pany with Cardinal Pedicini. She generally commu- 
nicated in the chapel of the Holy Crucifix at San Paolo 
[he means on these occasions] ; and many and many a 
a time have I seen her immediately after Communion 
remain entirely deprived of consciousness. The same 
thing would happen in other churches, at the sound of 
the heavenly voice. As we had to pursue our pilgrim- 
age, I had no other means save that of addressing to 
her tacitly a commandment in the name of holy obedi- 
ence ; instantly she would return to herself, g,nd cut 
short all those celestial locutions in which were re- 
vealed to her the greatest secrets concerning the Church 
and those things which were the subjects of her prayer.' 
The extraordinary graces of this kind which she re- 
ceived became, he tells us, a severe trial to her humility, 
and even to her charity towards her neighbour. * Some 
spoke favourably of them, others conceived a bad opi- 
nion. The pious woman suffered from beholding her 
God thus offended. Dreading to have these raptures 
in public, she struggled to repress the ardent aspira- 
tions of her heart, but without success. Eaptm^es were 
to her as common a thing when she betook herself to 
her devotions as it is to us to pray vocally. You would 
have said her soul was about to take its fiight from the 
body, particularly at Communion ; and, as it was im- 
possible for her to control herself, she attracted the 
attention of all present. Some, admiring her fervour, 
would waylay her at the church-door to recommend 
themselves to her prayers ; others said that she was 
possessed, or was a hypocrite. After having finished 
her thanksgiving, she used to glance modestly around 
to see if the persons who might have remarked her 



HER CHARITY TOWARDS GOD. 135 

were still there ; and tlien, seizing a favourable moment, 
she would leave the church quite timid and confused, 
to get home as fast as she could.' To avoid becoming 
thus a mark for observation, so distressing to her, Anna 
]\Iaria began to wander from church to church, com- 
municating first in one, then in another. But God 
reproached her for so doing, and bade her not disquiet 
herself on account either of the mockery or the remarks 
to which she was subjected, and to fear nothing, since 
He was with her. He told her that if others oifended 
Him, she was not the cause of this ; and that she must 
return to her usual church, the Madonna della Pieta, 
in the Piazza Colonna. She promptly obeyed the di- 
vine injunction. 

That persons who were strangers to her should draw 
erroneous conclusions from casually noticing demon- 
strations of a singular and unusual kind is perhaps not 
matter for much wonder. An ordinary congregation 
is of a mixed character ; in it there are always many 
who are quite unfitted to form an opinion on anything 
of the spiritual, and still more of the mystical order, 
but who are none the less ready to have and to pro- 
claim one. Whatever the outer world may believe of 
the sup2)osed credulous welcome given by Catholics to 
everything bearing a semblance of the miraculous, it is 
plain that even in a land where faith is peculiarly strong 
in the bulk of the population, and where the super- 
natural has not to encounter the same species of timid 
and cold mistrust which constant association with those 
who habitually ignore or disbelieve in it, and who, 
above all things, despise what they term credulity and 
superstition, is so apt to foster in the believing them- 
selves — even in Catholic Italy itself, and in Eome, the 
centre of the Catholic world, persons might be found, 



136 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

and they not a few, to suspect, misinterpret, and even 
tax with hypocrisy manifestations surpassing the custo- 
mary marks of devotion, and wearing an extraordinary 
and exceptional character. To such suspicions, at any 
rate, was Anna Maria subjected ; and, when we consider 
what the world is everywhere, finding entrance even 
into churches, and that it is always substantially the 
same, this need not much surprise us. But in her own 
home, amongst the daily witnesses of her eminent holi- 
ness, and where every member of the family had fre- 
quent opportunities of observing closely the extraordi- 
nary trances into which she so constantly fell, it might 
be expected that their supernatural character could not 
be overlooked or mistaken. True, no one under her roof 
taxed her with hypocrisy or attributed these manifesta- 
tions to any suspicious cause ; which, indeed, would 
have been impossible. Her virtues were respected and 
recognised in her family, and the genuineness and depth 
of her piety were unquestioned ; still upon this point a 
most unaccountable obtuseness prevailed. Domenico 
was stone-blind with regard to it, and the daughters 
were purblind. Sometimes (the confessor tells us) she 
would be seized with an ecstasy when she was standing 
and in the act of waiting on the rest at table. Sud- 
denly she would seem like one struck by lightning, and 
remain a considerable time transfixed and immovable, 
still holding her knife and fork in her hands, and her 
eyes set like those of a statue. God had drawn a thick 
bandage over those of her husband (says P. Filippo), to 
hinder him as well as her children from understanding 
what they saw. It is impossible to resist this conclu- 
sion, for such seizures assuredly bore as little resem- 
blance to natural sleep or to a stroke of paralysis as 
could well be conceived ; yet such were the only ideas 



HEE CHAKITY TOWARDS GOD. 137 

which seemed to suggest themselves to the dull brain 
of Domenico. ' This stupid man,' continues the Father, 
' would at first call to her, and, finding that she made 
no reply, would be afraid she was taken with a fit ; 
afterwards, observing that these seizures recurred pretty- 
frequently, he attributed them to convulsions or to 
drowsiness, according to the different forms which the 
ecstasy assumed.' When the servant of God had re- 
gained her consciousness and a sweet and joyous smile 
spread over her countenance, he was none the wiser, 
and would say, ^ How can you go off to sleep at table ? 
Why, you are quite stupefied with drowsiness !' adding 
other similar reproaches. Sometimes these ecstasies 
would take her when sitting, and then Domenico would 
shake her violently, without her giving the least symp- 
tom of consciousness or feeling. Presently she would rise 
with the same look of joyous contentment, and, accord* 
ing as the good man was persuaded either that she had 
been asleep or that she was sufiering from some attack 
of indisposition, he would scold her or press her to 
take some 'soothing infusions.' 'The eldest daughter, 
Sofia, had a little more penetration, and conceived some 
suspicions of the truth without knowing all ; for she 
would say that her mother was praying, and Maria 
would begin to cry, exclaiming, " Mama is dead ! Mama 
is dead !" because she saw her give no sign of life.' The 
same kind of thing would happen when the family were 
at their evening devotions, and saying the Eosary to- 
gether. When they had finished, and she did not stir, 
one of them would go up to her and find her in a state 
of unconsciousness. To arouse her seemed impossible, 
but by and bye she came to herself. Domenico, whom 
the Cardinal describes, in language similar to that of 
the confessor, as an * ignorant man, wlio had not the 



138 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

smallest conception of these heavenly gifts,' did not 
know what to make of such behaviour in his wife, of 
whose fervent piety at any rate he was fully convinced. 
33ut as these scenes were of frequent occiurence, they 
puzzled and annoyed him, and he would take her to 
task for her ^ doziness ;' in a moderate tone, however, for 
he must have secretly felt that it ill became him to at- 
tempt to teach one like her reverence for holy things. 
Still he did not spare her a few reproaches, saying that 
it was a shame for any one to go to sleep at prayers, 
Avhen they had all the night for repose. Xothing but 
holy obedience had the slightest effect in recalling her 
from these supernatural swoons, but to this recourse 
was never had without necessity ; and when, in after 
years, the coniidential priest, Xatali, or some other per- 
son cognisant of her state, Tvas present, he would en- 
deavour, on observiDg that she had passed into an 
ecstasy, to divert Domenico's attention by starting some 
topic of interest to him, in the hope of thus prevent- 
ing him from noticing what had occurred and giving 
time for the servant of God to come out of her rapture 
spontaneously. 

In the midst of the delights and consolations Tvith 
which her heart was flooded, Anna 3Iaria preserved a 
holy sobriety, and never abated aught of her spirit of 
mortification. ^Ve have seen how frequently she en- 
deavoured to interrupt those colloquies with God which 
formed the joy and blessedness of her life, in order that 
she might continue to discharge uninterruptedly some 
homely piece of household work ; so sacred in her eyes 
were the duties of her state, humble as they were. They 
were sacred to her because she saw in them the will of 
God, who had appointed them for her, and her one ob- 
ject was to please Him. ^ Her sole intention,' says P. 



HER CHARITY TOWARDS GOD. 139 

Filippo, ^ was to please God continually ; for true love 
does not consist only in never turning away our thoughts 
from the beloved object and in using all the means in 
our power to render it always present to us ; in this re- 
pect the servant of God had reached a very high point, 
since in order to be able to work it had become neces- 
sary for her to distract herself; but love, above all, con- 
sists in the purity and rectitude of our actions/ Such, 
then, was Anna Maria's one ruling motive and desire — 
to please God alone, procure His glory, and refer every- 
thing to Him. 

But the strongest proof of her love for God was 
undoubtedly her hatred of sin, and that not of mortal 
sin alone, but of every the most trifling offence against 
her Beloved. She, in fact, recognised nothing as evil 
except sin, and was continually beseeching her Hea- 
venly Spouse to cause her to die rather than ever to 
displease Him. In a letter which she wrote about some 
affair to her confessor, she said that rather than commit 
a venial fault she would mount a scaffold and endure 
all its shame, coupled with the infliction of every con- 
ceivable torture. It would be impossible to express 
what was her zeal for the glory of God, a zeal which 
made her ready to sacrifice all, even life itself, for Him ; 
and this desire she indeed accomplished by a life-long 
self-immolation. In the midst of all her sufferings, even 
of those which from being interior are the hardest to 
bear, she preserved an unutterable peace, which nothing 
could disturb. E'ow this peace was but another evi- 
dence of her perfect love of God. She was at peace 
because she suffered willingly and joyfully whatever 
it was His will that she should suffer. That which 
a soul in the lowest circle of bliss is described by 
Dante as saying, was a true expression of her feelings. 



1 40 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

when sunk in the deepest abyss of human woes and 
pains : — 

* His will is our peace.'* 

We shall have to speak more particularly of what she 
endured in ollering herself continually for the conver- 
sion of sinners and for the extirpation of sin in order 
that God might be known and loved, when we come to 
speak of her as a victim of expiation ; so that, although 
it is one of the most remarkable exemplifications of the 
jiower of divine charity in her heart, we will make no 
further allusion to it in this place. I^either will we 
dwell here on the purity and generosity of love with 
which she offered to renounce all her sensible consola- 
tions, as well as to undergo all imaginable sufferings, 
in order to diminish the evils predominant in the world 
and to promote the interests of Holy Church ; even 
pressing this offer upon her Spouse until (as we shall 
lind) He was pleased to grant her petition, and to cast 
her into a very furnace of tribulations and pains, in 
which she was destined to spend the last years of her 
life, even to her dying hour. 

We shall here content ourselves, therefore, with a 
brief notice of her fulfilment of that second great com- 
mandment of the law, which is like unto the first, 
charity towards our neighbour, and the absence of 
which proves that the love of God is not in us. He 
alone who loves God can indeed truly love his neigh- 
bour ; that is, with a love deserving of the name, a love 
which has no regard to self, or to the personal recom- 
mendations of him who is loved; a love which sur- 
mounts all natural repugnances, which is universal and 

* ' La sua voluntato e nostra pace.* 

raradiso, Canto Terzo. 



HER CHARITY TOWARDS HER NEIGHBOUR. 141 

unwearied, including strangers, enemies, and persecutors 
in the same embrace with friends and kindred. Such 
was the love of which Anna Maria's life was constantly' 
giving the most affecting examples. Poor as she was, 
and scarcely able to support her own family, she man- 
aged always to reserve a portion for those who were 
still more needy than herself, a portion chiefly taken 
out of her own scanty allowance. But more than this : 
she taxed her time also, already so heavily burdened. 
Her nights, after subtracting the small portion which 
she allowed herself for rest, were divided between work- 
ing for the poor and the devotions to which she dedi- 
cated those solitary hours — if we might not rather class 
both under the same name. For, truly, it was an in- 
tense devotion to Jesus Christ in the person of the poor, 
and no mere ordinary movement of Christian charity, 
which made her thus spend herself for others, and deny 
herself even her needful repose after a day of unceasing 
toil. 

She practised in an equally sublime degree all the 
works of mercy. If she met a poor woman raggedly 
dressed, particularly if it was in winter, she would take 
her home, feed her, and give her decent articles of 
clothing, not only never testifying the smallest repug- 
nance of nature, however dirty or otherwise disgusting 
to the senses the poor creature might be, but treating 
her with the same respect as she might have evinced 
to a person of high distinction. For, in truth, she saw 
only Jesus Christ in the poor and the adlicted. On one 
occasion her Heavenly Spouse deigned to testify His 
gratitude to her. A poor woman was lying by the road- 
side foaming at the mouth and seemingly unnoticed. 
Anna Maria came that way and, like the Good Sama- 
ritan, hastened to assist her, with her own handkerchief 



142 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

wiping away the foam and the cold perspiration which 
stood on her brow. This act of charity drew the atten- 
tion of the passers-by, who began to stop and gather 
round. The poor woman complaining of acute internal 
pain, Anna Maria ran to obtain some medicine to as- 
suage it ; nor did she leave her until she was sufficiently 
restored to pursue her way without assistance. Enter- 
ing a church immediately after, she heard the voice of 
our Lord thanking her for this act of charity, as if it 
had been done to Himself ; then followed an ecstasy, ac- 
companied with inexpressible peace. Many similar in- 
stances are related of her charity, in the hospitals and 
elsewhere, to the most repulsive objects. She never 
refused alms to the poor who came to her door to 
beg ; and, fearful lest in her absence they might not 
be relieved — for there was often poverty sufficient at 
home to excuse a denial — she would say to those of 
her house, ^ I^I'ever send the poor away ; when you have 
nothing else, give them a bit of bread ; you know where 
it is.' 

We subjoin Domenico's testimony to her charity. 
* She was ever solicitous for the good of her neighbour, 
whom she tenderly loved. I remember also that when 
there was to be an execution at Rome, and the culprit 
refused to be converted, she was quite upset; and I 
remarked that on such occasions she was more ill than 
usual : sometimes she was forced to take to her bed by 
reason of the excessive pain in her head, from which 
she habitually suffered.' There could be no doubt as 
to the cause of this accession of suffering, even without 
the testimony of her confessor, who says that when 
there was to be an execution she prayed indefatigably 
for the conversion of the criminal until she had obtained 
this grace, enduring great bodily and mental suffer- 



HER CHARITY TOWARDS HER NEIGHBOUR. 143 

ings, which, almost always obliged her to take to her bed. 
Of this she complained with a holy confidence several 
times to her Heavenly Father, who told her, that since 
she had made herself a slave through love. He exacted 
payment from her for the conversion of these souls. Al- 
though she knew by experience what it would cost her, 
this consideration never deterred her from praying with 
the same ardent charity on all similar occasions. 

Her husband proceeds to speak of her charity to the 
sick. ' When the servant of God was sent for by sick 
people, she went immediately, no matter what the 
weather was. I had given her full permission in this 
respect. I remember that during the first years she 
was not able to eat a piece of bread in peace, because 
people were asking for her on this side and on that ; 
she went everywhere, for she was very active. Towards 
the close of her life, the maladies with which she was 
afflicted did not permit her to keep this up ; she dragged 
herself about, however, as much as her strength allowed, 
without respect of persons ; indeed, the poor had the 
preference. Her great trouble was the not being able 
to relieve the miseries of others as she would have 
wished / and then he adds what we have already no- 
ticed, that, in order to be able to help the wretched 
without wronging her family, she worked at night, 
during the most critical periods, in order to earn some 
trifle more to bestow tipoD i.hem ; and this she did with 
his permission. We may notice here a fresh instance 
of Domenico's genuine kindness of heart, than which 
none can have been more truly valued by her, as well 
as of his faith and trust in God. He might be a coarse, 
stui)id, and ignorant man, as botli the Cardinal and 
the confessor call him, and doubtless witliout doing 
him the slightest injustice, but, at any rat(% lie was nut 



144 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 



SO stupid in respect to divine tilings as not to remark 
that a peculiar Providence watched over his family, a 
blessing which his wife's self-denying charity and won- 
derful confidence in God were the means of securing to 
them. For he adds, after making the statement just 
quoted, * And God blessed our family, granting it what 
was needful by an almost continual miracle. Observing 
this, I accorded her full liberty to do all which she felt 
herself moved to do.' 

He continues to relate how she used also to visit 
hospitals, particularly that of San Giacomo, and would 
sometimes take her daughters with her to teach them 
how to pity and succour the afflicted. A multitude of 
persons (he says) used to be always having recourse to 
her at home in their different troubles and afflictions, 
to whom she administered consolation with the utmost 
patience and compassion, helping them to the extent 
of her ability. Cardinal Pedicini says that when she 
visited the hospitals, she would take biscuits and a 
little wine for the convalescents ; nor while thus ad- 
ministering bodily refreshment, did she neglect their pre- 
cious souls, but spoke to them of their true end and of the 
mysteries of the faith, instructing such as were ignorant 
with much gentleness and kindly affection. * She had 
a special gift,' he says, * for consoling the afflicted. If 
it was question of spiritual things, in respect of which 
her gifts and lights rendered her an excellent mistress, 
whosoever had recourse to her was sure to come away 
fully comforted. As regards temporal things, she did 
not content herself with showing a sterile compassion 
and with adiii\ istering consolations unaccompanied 
with results ; but she willingly availed herself of the 
interest she possessed to aid her neighbour, althougli 
she was so delicate as to profiting by it herself. It 



1 



i 



HER CHARITY TOWARDS HER NEIGHBOUR. 145 

these people were in a state of utter destitution, and 
she had not the means of relieving them, she overcame 
her shame, and asked alms for them. She frequently 
addressed herself to me for this object, and I readily 
satisfied her. In fine, in one affair or another, whether 
it were question of law-suits, sicknesses, indigence, or 
domestic misfortunes and troubles, of all who applied 
to her none left her without having been consoled.' 

Thus compassionate to others, she reserved no ten- 
derness for herself, and neither by word nor look com- 
plained of her own continual sufferings. JSTotwithstand- 
ing her accumulated maladies, she was ever, as her 
husband testifies, *gay and affable,' and, so far from 
being a burden to any one, was herself the consoler of 
all, complaisant and patient with each and every one, 
a peace-maker, for which office he observes she had a 
peculiar talent, and showing a never-failing charity to- 
wards those who injured and persecuted her. * With- 
out a great love of God,' he observes, ' she never could 
have borne tribulations and persecutions for such a 
length of time, neither could she have loved her per- 
secutors and done good to them.' With his usual 
simplicity he adds, ' It is true I could not see into the 
bottom of her heart ; God only can see that, and the 
confessor who directs the soul may know it ; but, gene- 
rally speaking, people cannot help showing by their 
acts what they have in their hearts.' He ^ves some 
instances of her behaviour under injurious treatment, 
which we shall notice when speaking of her patience. 
Her charity for her enemies, and for all who ofiended 
lier, was also exercised in constant prayers for them, 
not merely in a general way, but for one or the other 
])y name when they were known to her. But tliis was 
the only petition of the servant of God wliich was in- 

L 



146 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

variably unsuccessful, at least so far as regarded their 
exemption from temporal chastisement, in consequence 
of a very remarkable promise and engagement which it 
had pleased God to make with respect to her, and from 
which not all her most fervent supplications could pre- 
vail upon Him to depart. We refrain from enlarging 
here upon her charity in j)raying for the necessities, 
spiritual and temporal, of others, as well as upon the . 
heroic self-sacrifice which accompanied these prayers, 
^as these subjects will recur hereafter, and wall content 
ourselves for the present with referring to a few passages 
in the deposition of the confessor, before passing on to 
a brief review of her other Christian virtues. 

* She prayed,' he says, ^ without ceasing for the sick,- 
for prisoners, for the persecuted and the calumniated, 
for persons of all ranks whom she saw in the mysteri- 
ous sun. Those who applied to her might feel certain 
of being soon relieved. For the sick she counselled 
remedies proper to heal them, recommending them to 
ask the doctor if they could be injurious. To the in- 
digent she gave what she could ; if she was unable to 
give, she addressed herself to one of her spiritual sons. 
. . . She overcame for their sake the shame of solicit- 
ing alms, and more than once she literally took the 
bread from her own mouth to succour the destitute 
who applied to her.' We must not omit here to allude 
also to the manner in which she bestowed another 
species of alms, for which large claims were continually 
made upon her, and the administration of which is a 
far more arduous and delicate matter than the disburse- 
ment of temporal relief : w^e mean the ^Ims of good 
advice and fraternal correction. For some are too eager 
to give on all occasions, others timidly shrink from ever 
offering any counsel or reproof; some give reticently 



HER CHABITY TOWARDS HER NEIGHBOUR. 147 

and insincerely, others inopportunely and unpleasantly. 
Charity, and that simple truthfulness which was one of 
Anna Maria's most beautiful graces, smoothed every 
difficulty away. * He that giveth, let it be with sim- 
plicity,' says the Apostle;* and this exhortation is ap- 
plicable also to spiritual alms. It makes them accept- 
able and efficacious. As long as she was able to walk, 
she never employed an intermediary when giving coun- 
sels, admonitions, or encouragement to persons who 
applied to her. Later, v\^hen confined to her own house, 
she used to send the priest Natali w^ith messages of this 
nature, which often concerned the peace of families, 
the reconciliation of married persons, or the pardon of 
injuries. As these messages were not unfrequently ad- 
dressed to individuals of high rank or station, she used 
to exhort her confidant to tread under foot human re- 
spect and fear, and to act only for the glory of God. 
Harmony, peace, and charity were what she was con- 
tinually inculcating and enforcing on her spiritual chil- 
dren ; and there was nothing which she w^as more 
earnest in cautioning them to avoid than the habit of 
criticising and complaining of others. Her ow^n prac- 
tice was to compassionate the faults of others, and ex- 
cuse the intention when she could not excuse the act. 
When persons came to confide their griefs to her, she 
took care, however, not to check or interrupt them ; 
she let them have their story out, and listened wdtli 
patience and kindly sympathy ) thus affording them 
the opportunity of relieving their minds by the detail 
of their grievances. Then she w^ould give them some 
good advice, exhorting them to j)ity the failings of 
others, and, instead of losing their time in useless com- 
plaints, to cm'ploy it in recommending tlieir liusband 
* Rom. xii. 8. 



148 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

or brother to God. Sweetness, patience, and prayer, 
she would tell them, will triumph over everything : she 
on her part would not fail to pray for them ; but in the 
mean time they must follow these instructions. Then, 
referring to the sins and offences complained of, she 
would add, ' If God did not hold us back, we are cap- 
able of doing much worse.' 

P. Filippo renders the same testimony as we have 
seen her husband give, to the sweetness and winning- 
ness of behaviour which accompanied all those various 
acts which charity prompted her to perform, and he 
especially mentions a circumstance of no little import- 
ance, though frequently overlooked even by the benefi- 
cent, namely, that ^ she listened to all with a perfect 
charity.' Are we not right in thinking that the grace 
of listening to what is tiresome is far rarer than the 
grace of giving] The ears weary much sooner than 
the hands or the tongue. Witness even the man after 
God's own heart,, the royal David, cutting short the 
explanation and justification of the injured and traduced 
Miphiboseth with a ^Why speakest thou any more? 
What I have said is determined : thou and Siba divide 
the possession ;'* thereby committing a manifest wrong 
and injustice, and mulcting the innocent for the benefit 
of the liar and the traitor. Holy Scripture makes no 
comment, but records the fact, as it does others, for our 
admonition and instruction. The grace of listening : 
how sweet is that grace, when even its counterpart in 
the natural order is a thing so Avelcome and so sooth- 
ing ! Anna Maria was patient, sympathising, and con- 
descending to all, but she was specially so to the poor 
and the afflicted, as those who have the strongest claim 
upon the charity that ^ is patient and "is kind ;' not 
* 2 Kings xix. 29. 



HER CHARITY TOWARDS HER NEIGHBOUR. 149 

scrutinising closely in each case the precise claims of 
the individual, but acting with a holy simplicity. Yet, 
though thus overflowing in charity, so that she may 
seem to have been a very prodigal in that respect, 
nevertheless the confessor bears witness that she was 
ever prudent and circumspect, taking a reasonable and 
due account of circumstances. In this we see a marked 
distinction between the overflowings of Christian charity 
and the heedless and extravagant bountifulness which 
has its source only in natural feeling, or is the result 
of weakness and of a certain incapacity to refuse, a 
liberality which must be classed as a species, however 
amiable, of self-indulgence. 

Self-indulgence has certainly no inconsiderable 
share in acts of kindness performed by that great mass 
• of persons generically styled amiable. This reflection 
renders a circumstance, which otherwise might be es- 
teemed very trifling in Anna Maria's habitual behaviour, 
worthy of a passing notice ; we mean her extreme kind- 
ness to animals. ' She had so good a heart,' says her 
confessor, ' that she extended her care even to little 
beasts, whom she loved as the creatures of God. Be- 
sides, she said, " These poor beasts have no Paradise 
save in this world." ' She did not scruple, as he tells 
us, even sometimes to employ the marvellous gift of 
healing with which her right hand had been endowed, 
in favour of suffering animals, praying the Divine Good- 
ness to heal some wound or restore some fractured limb ; 
and elsewhere we find it considered worth recording 
that she often left her own dinner to fcod her hungry 
cat. Now assuredly many will see nothing remarkable 
or meritorious in this. Very ordinary persons will put 
themselves out of their way in a much greater degree 
for the comfort and even indulgence of their pet animals, 



150 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

but it must be remembered that this holy woman had 
no ' pets.' Dearly as she loved husband, children, 
grandchildren, she loved even them with a love so holy, 
so disengaged, and so thoroughly supernaturalised, as 
utterly to exclude the mere human fondness which em- 
bodies itself in the familiar idea represented by 'pet- 
ting.' Tender as was her love for all belonging to her, 
she was not prodigal of caresses to any ; still less, then, 
could animals engage that kind of coaxing attention on 
her part which in so many is a mere form of self-indul- 
gence. When, therefore, we see one who was ever 
living on the portals of the invisible and supernatural 
world, and ready, as she stood waiting on others, or 
eating her own scanty morsel, to be at any moment rapt 
into divine contemplation, or to swoon away through 
the love of God, tiu^n to minister to the wants of a poor 
little animal, we cannot resist the inference that she 
who was so divinely illuminated recognised the claim 
of these dumb creatures to a place in our regard, for 
the love of Him without whom not a sjoarrow falls on 
the ground,'"' and who, when in His mercy He spared 
the guilty Mneve, had a compassionate eye to the 
' many beasts'| as well as to the thousands of human 
beings, made to His image, who dwelt within the walls 
of that great city. Her confessor sees in this act also 
a proof of that obedience and submission of heart 
which had made her the servant of all. ' This woman,' 
he exclaims, ' v\^ho had so many lights and so many 
gifts that an ambassador who had the opportunity of 
becoming acquainted with her acknowledged that she 
knew the world better than the deepest politicians — 
this woman, I say, submitted herself to every one, whe- 
ther at home or abroad ; she even obeyed animals, as 
* Matt. X. 29. t Jonas iv. 11. 



HER CHARITY TOWARDS HER NEIGHBOUR. 151 

tb.8 proverb says' (some Italian proverb, doubtless, of 
which we are ignorant), ^ and might be seen interrupt- 
ing her dinner to feed the cat.' May we not add that 
the attitude of mind which in her prompted an other- 
wise ordinary act, was an imitation of the perfection of 
our Heavenly Father, who ministers to all even the 
lowest of His creatures in the scale of being, opening 
His hand and filling with plenteousness every living 
thing ?* 

We will conclude this chapter by quoting the words 
with which the confessor closes his own deposition on 
the subject of Anna Maria's charity for her neighbour, 
in which are summed up several of the characteristics 
to which we have adverted. ' Far from seeking her 
own interests, she sacrificed them willingly, and gave 
herself and her own life, without harbouring resentment 
for any injuries done her; she forgave these injuries 
from the bottom of her heart, rendering to her persecu- 
tors all the good in her power ; speaking favourably of 
all according to the dictates of common prudence ; re- 
joicing in the good of others, and afflicted at the evil 
befalling them as if it had been her own ; full of com- 
passion towards all ; bearing with all, particularly with 
the tiresome persons whom God sent to try the virtue 
of her patience when she was suffering from violent 
neuralgia ; she offered to God all these sufferings in 
order to obtain relief for the afflicted who had recourse 
to her. The charity of this pious woman, eminently 
intelligent, circumspect, generous, and heroic during her 
whole life, w^as strikingly displayed even in her last 
moments, when she was seen begging the forgiveness 
of those belonging to her house for all the trouble and 
distress which her illness had caused them. This is 
* Psalm cxliv. 16. 



153 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

what I attest and depose in Domino (in the Lord) as 
briefly as I can respecting the virtue of heroic charity 
practised towards her neighbour by my penitent, Anna 
Maria Taigi. Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and 
to the Holy Ghost now and for ever, to everlasting 
aojes. Amen.' 



CHAPTER X. 

ANNA MARIA A SHINING EXAMPLE OF ALL THE VIRTUES. 

We cannot follow the same method with Anna 
Maria's other ■\4rtues as we have with the theological, 
which hold so jDre-eminent a rank, but, without attempt- 
ing any division of a technical kind, or observing any 
particular order, we shall advert to them in a practical 
and unsystematic wa}^ It belongs to the saintly cha- 
racter not to be deficient in any Christian -vdrtue, and 
to possess all, at least potentially, in a perfect manner ;* 
nevertheless, some saints are remarkable for one, some 

* ' Since, for beatification and canonisation, the virtues 
ought not to be imperfect, but perfect, hence it is necessary that 
inquiiy be made concerning theii* connection, in order to deter- 
mine whether they were perfect or imperfect. This does not 
imply that the servant of God must have actually exhibited 
heroicity in all things, since it suffices, if he was a hero in faith, 
hope, and charity, and in like manner was a hero in those moral 
vii'tues in which his state of life enabled him to exercise him- 
self, with a readiness of mind to do the like in others, if occa- 
sion were given him to put them in practice. \Yherefore St. 
Jerome, who admitted the connection of vii'tues, so that who- 
ever has one must be said to have the rest, makes Ciitobulus 
ask, "And how read we, Whoever hath one, seems to have all 
the vii-tues ?" - To which Atticus replies, " It is by participation, 
not special possession ; for of necessity each person excels in 
Bome.'* The same is to be learned also from St. Thomas', 



A SHINING EXAMPLE OF ALL VIRTUES. 153 

for another virtue in a more special manner, their cha- 
racters seeming to centre, as it were, in one more pro- 
minently developed excellence and to take their tone 
from this particular grace. In other cases it would he 
difficult to select the virtue which most highly charac- 
terised the individual ; and this is particularly true of 
the suhject of this hiography. Anna Maria may he re- 
garded as a compendium of all the virtues, and to have 
been called to exercise all in a shining manner. Doubt- 
less this formed part of the designs of God in her re- 
gard, who was pleased to place her before the world as 
a perfect pattern of Christian holiness. In setting be- 
fore us this bright model. He chose one who was poor, 
obscure, and despised in condition ; He did not raise 
her from that state, but rendered her illustrious in it 
by her extraordinary perfections and His own corre- 
sponding gifts ; that very condition itself furnishing more 
ample scope for the display in all its inartificial and 
sublime simplicity of every Christian virtue. The con- 
ventionalities of life in the superior classes of society 
serve to veil and conceal in many points some of these 
virtues, even when possessed : not that the practice of 
any virtue is less obligatory in higher stations or its 
actual requirements in any degree modified by position, 
but there are some the exhibition of which cannot in 
many cases be so patent, while there are others which de- 
rive adventitious splendour from the very circumstances 
under which they are practised. JN'othing of this sort 
could occur in respect to the servant of God, whose ex- 



wliore he explains the connection of the virtues, and shows that 
it is to be understood, not in reference to acts, but to disposi- 
tions of mind.' Benedict XIV., On Heroic Virtue (Oratorian 
Edition), vol. i. pp. 89, 40. 



154 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

ample, accordingly, is as generally applicable and com- 
plete as it is striking. 

Xevertlieless, wlien we consider tlie various perfec- 
tions combined to adorn the soul of Anna Maria, nothing 
perhaps attracts our notice more constantly than her 
patience ; nor is this surprising when we consider the 
large part which patience plays in the formation of the 
perfect Christian character. In Scripture, indeed, it is 
sometimes spoken of as if it summed up in a manner all 
moral perfection ; as where St. James says, ' Patience 
hath a perfect work.'* The same Apostle also sslvs, 
' You have heard of the patience of Job, and you have 
seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is merciful and 
compassionate ;'f hereby marking how many other vir- 
tues are implied in the Christian virtue of patience. 
The ' end of the Lord,' moreover, was His Passion, in 
which He suffered rather than acted ; and thus also the 
Christian who treads in his Lord's footsteps is much. 
more often called to suffer and to endure than to do. 
It is his special work, in a sense that applies to no other 
in which he may be accidentally by God's appointment 
engaged ; neither is its office suspended by such other 
accidental work. Moreover, it holds a special position 
of its own in the secular life : ' What obedience,' says 
Patlier Paber, ' is to Eeligious (not all that it is, but the 
functions it performs), that patience is to seculars. In- 
dependently of its directly supernatural virtue, obedience 
sanctifies the Eeligious for four reasons principally : be- 
cause it comes from without, because the Eeligious has 
no control over its requirements, because he must be 
read}^ at all moments, and because it involves the giving 
up of his own will and way. Xow all these four offices 
patience discharges in its measure to the secular. The 
* i. 4. t V. 11. 



I 



A SHINING EXAMPLE OF ALL VIRTUES. 155 

circumstances wMch exact its exercise come upon us 
from without ; we have no control over them ; they 
may come upon us at all moments ; and they always 
involve the sacrifice or the mortification of our own will 
and way. I do not say that patience equals religious 
obedience ; but that it is itself the obedience of secu- 
lars.'* 

Certainly if there was no virtue more conspicuous 
in Anna Maria than patience, there was none in which 
it pleased God more severely to try her; and this very 
thing may serve to confirm the opinion here given by 
so great a master of spiritual things ; for if this holy 
woman was to be set forth as a shining example of sub- 
lime perfection in the world, we can well understand 
why she was so peculiarly exercised in that which is 
its appointed school. And how many other virtues are 
there which are either implied in or acquired by the 
exercise of patience ; such as humility, mortification, 
silence, forbearance, fortitude, temperance, charity ! ' It 
is,* as Father Faber observes, ^ a short road to unselfish- 
ness ; for nothing is left to self. All that seems to be- 
long most intimately to self, to be self's private pro- 
perty, such as time, home, and rest, is invaded by 
these continual trials of patience. The family is full 
of such opportunities, and the sanctity of marriage 
abounds with them.'| We have seen that such was 
the case with Anna Maria. Her house was a Chris- 
tian house, regulated on the highest Christian princi- 
ples ; her family were all good people, desirous of pleas- 
ing God and saving their souls ; yet we have seen how 
continual an exercise for her patience she found under 
her own roof. 

* Growth in Holiness, chap. ix. pp. 136, 137. 
t Ibid. p. 137. 



156 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

Her rougli and irascible liusband, who took his 
share in thns trying her, was, however, extremely angry 
when he saw her injured or insulted by others. Anna 
Maria, as may be well conceived, never stood up for her 
rights, a spirit which the eminent writer just quoted 
assures us * is fatal to perfection,' But Domenico was 
well disposed upon occasion to do this for her, and we 
cannot blame him. He himself is our authority. ' Al- 
though she endeavoured to do good to every one,' he says, 
' there were bad tongues which would not leave her in 
peace, whether from jealousy at seeing so many persons 
of distinction at the house, or through the suggestion 
of the de^il. I remember, amongst others, that a wicked 
woman had the audacity to calumniate her in the mat- 
ter of her honour. I had this wretched creature impri- 
soned, but this pained my wife, who did all she could 
to get her out again ; and as soon as she was out she 
began again worse than ever. K I perceived any one 
molesting her, he had to pay dear for it, but I could 
not follow her everywhere, on account of my occupa- 
tions at the Chigi palace. Observing afterwards that 
the servant of God was distressed when I interfered 
about these things, I ended by saying to her, " "Well, 
do what you please and in the way you please ; if you 
like people to throw stones at you, and if besides you 
choose to give them the stones yourself, you are free to 
do so." ' 

Domenico mentions another instance in his depo- 
sition of a woman who persecuted and insulted his wife 
at the time they lived on the Corso, whither they re- 
moved when the family became too numerous for their 
first abode. She inhabited the same house, and was an 
impudent, coarse, and perfidious creature. She took a 
mortal aversion to Anna ]\Iaria. and for several vears 



A SHINING EXAMPLE OF ALL VIRTUES. 157 

missed no opportunity of heaping on her every manner 
of abuse, contempt, and calumny, and injuring her in 
every way she could. Domenico says that she must 
have been either insane or possessed, for the accu- 
sations she brought against his wife could not have 
naturally suggested themselves to any mind. Yet Anna 
Maria continued to salute her on the staircase when 
they met, and would even go up and speak to her, very 
courteously ; making her moreover, from time to time, 
some little present. But the unhappy woman seemed 
to have (as he says) the heart of a viper, and was not 
in the least degree touched by this kindness ; on the 
contrary, her hatred and insolence appeared daily to 
increase. Domenico' s patience was nearly exhausted, 
but Anna Maria employed the influence she possessed 
over him, to restrain him from taking any rigorous 
measure and persuade him to exercise forbearance. 
Meanwhile she relaxed not one whit in her own active 
charity towards this malevolent woman. She be- 
sought God not to punish her, but the reply she re- 
ceived was that this proud woman would one day come 
to beg alms at her door. As Anna Maria persevered in 
imploring the Lord to spare her enemy this chastise 
ment, she heard the following words : ' Be satisfied that 
I should punish her in this life, instead of chastising her 
more severely in the next.' This woman was at that 
time a laundress in easy circumstances, but some years 
afterwards she lost everything, and was reduced to so- 
licit alms. Many a time might she be seen knocking 
at Anna Maria's door, who, by the money she gave her 
and the relief she obtained for her, became her chief 
benefactress. 

And yet, notwithstanding the meekness which she 
thus manifested on the most trying occasions, Anna 



158 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

Maria was not "by any means constitutionally patient. 
* Like all persons of a sensitive and lively temperament/ 
says her confessor, ' she was naturally disposed to anger ; 
she checked and tamed it by silence and meekness, and 
thus attained to that heroic patience which distinguished 
her in so marked a manner, and which was the result 
of her deep humility. And again, when alluding to 
her possesion of the cardinal virtue of temperance, which 
serves to regulate all the actions and passions, he men- 
tions by what great struggles she had obtained the com- 
plete mastery over herself, and acquired the virtues most 
opposed to those vices to which by nature she was 
prone. * By repressing with all her might her passionate 
temper, and by submitting to every one, she acquired 
that tranquillity, cheerfulness, and amiability, accompa- 
nied by a deep humihty of heart and conduct, which she 
retained until death.' * It would be impossible,' he says, 
^ to describe what patience she exercised towards the 
members of her family, with all their different disposi- 
tions, towards her spiritual sons, towards her persecu- 
tors (and she had many), towards sinners whom she 
reclaimed to the right path, as well as in a thousand 
other cases, in all her spiritual and bodily sufferings, 
under privations, calumnies, domestic afflictions, &c. 
To the envy of which she was the object, she opposed 
her desire to do good to all and particularly to those 
who harboured a spiritual envy against her, for she 
prayed constantly for them, and upon occasion humbled 
herself before them, although she was aware that she 
thereby sometimes incurred their contempt.' 

In the Church of the Madonna clella Pieta, which 
she frequented, she was often exposed, not to censorious 
remarks alone, but to the grossest insults. A well- 
dressed elderly man used at one time to come and kneel 



A SHINING EXAMPLE OF ALL VIRTUES. lOy 

next her at Communion, and snatch away the cloth 
violently out of her hands; upon which Anna Maria, 
without betraying any disturbance or displeasure, would 
wait patiently until she had the opportunity of com- 
municating at the following Mass. Then the devil, 
who was doubtless the prompter of this insane piece of 
malice, instigated the priest who generally said the Mass 
at which she communicated to conceive some suspicion 
against her, and to pass her by when she knelt at the 
altar rails- Again she kept silence, and she had been 
for some time the object of this double insult, before 
the priest, her companion, accidentally observed what 
took place. Full of indignation, he first intercepted at 
the church door the man who had carried his animosity 
against this pious woman even to the very altar of the 
Lord, and severely rebuked him for his scandalous 
behaviour. The gentleman, imagining, from the priest's 
indignation, that the woman he had thus insulted was 
his sister, hastened with much confusion to make his 
humble excuses, and Natali then hurried back to the 
sacristy, and, taking the priest aside who had just said 
Mass, required an account from him of this public 
refusal of Communion, at the same time threatening to 
inform his superiors of so unwarrantable a proceeding. 
Surprised at finding an ecclesiastic who was so honour- 
ably distinguished at Rome as was Don RaiFaele Natali 
interesting himself about a poor unknown woman, the 
priest apologised for what he had done; and hence- 
forward she was left free to receive Communion in peace. 
Don Raifaele naturally believed that he had done 
what must be very agreeable to the servant of God by) 
thus delivering her from so peculiarly distressing a per- \ 
sccution, but the fact was just the reverse; and his in- 



160 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

terference was no more acceptable to her than had been 
her husbancVs in the case related above. When he re- 
joined her outside the church he found her very sad, 
and she gently reproached him as if he had robbed her 
of a treasure, sa3^ing, ' What have you done ! What have 
you done !' Already in an impatient state of mind from 
what had just occurred, this lamentation quite provoked 
him, and he answered with some sharpness, ' If you 
take a pleasure in being insulted, it is all very well ; 
for God's sake take it ; but as for me, I must not per- 
mit such things when I see them. Follow your own 
way, I must follow mine : this is a matter on which we 
cannot agree.' 

We may sum up this subject in a few words by 
adding the testimony of Cardinal Pedicini : — -She 
bore,' he says, ' during her whole life calumnies, out- 
rages, insults, for the love of God, with a marvellous 
patience, resignation, tranquillity of mind, and a gener- 
ous affection for those who persisted in persecuting and 
assailing her. Assuredly, without a deep foundation 
of humility she could not have arrived at so lofty a de- 
gree of perfection ; but it cost her much, on account of 
her naturally quick and passionate disposition.' It was 
by a series of secret victories over self that she attained 
to the state in which she comes before us, performing 
heroic acts of patience, humility, and charity with a 
facility which is one of the characteristics of exalted 
sanctity, and which is apt to make us feel as if saints ' 
were a class apart from other Christians, endowed with 
excellences derived from some extraordinary source un- 
attainable to the great body of the faithful. *Yet,' 
observes Father Faber, speaking of the merit and glory 
obtained by our victories over self in little things, * it 
was not what we read of in the saints that made them 



A SHINING EXAMPLE OF ALL VIRTUES. 161 

saints : it was what we do not read of tliem that enabled 
them to be what we wonder at while we read. Words 
cannot tell the abhorrence nature has of the piece-meal 
captivity of little constraints.'* And it is the unflag- 
ging perseverance in this petty captivity of nature which 
makes the saint, or, we might rather say, which allows 
the new man, the saint within us, to grow and attain 
to maturity, ^ the measure of the age of the fulness of 

Christ.'! 

The bodily maladies of a most acute and compli- 
cated kind from which Anna Maria suffered for years 
also made large calls upon the exercise of a most sub- 
lime patience as well as fortitude. To read a mere list 
of these complaints would lead us to believe that she 
endured almost all Hhe ills which flesh is heir to.' 
Her head was the seat of continual pains j she had 
constant sick-headaches, which were terribly aggravated 
on the Fridays ; to these were added neuralgia and 
rheumatism, which attacked her ears so acutely that 
she was obliged to have her head almost always swathed 
up. The light of the sun, to which she had necessarily 
to expose herself in following her domestic avocations, 
occasioned sharp pains in her eyes, the sight of one of 
which was ail-but gone ; nevertheless it was with that 
eye that she contemplated ' the sun of eternal wisdom/ 
but natural light had little efl'ect on it except to cause 
the acutest suffering. Her palate suffered, not only 
through her voluntary mortifications, and also because 
all food, even in the smallest quantity, at last became 
repulsive to her, but from an exceeding bitterness, from 
which her mouth was never free. She seemed, indeed, 
to have lost all appreciative taste except for what was 

* Groivth in Holiness, chap. xvi. p. 297. 
t Eplies. iv. 13. 

M 



162 V. ANNA MAPJA TAIGI. 

"bitter and disagreeable ; for we find it recorded that slie 
liad a particular repugnance to an infusion of poppies, 
which she nevertheless submitted — or rather, we should 

say, for that very reason rejoiced — to take, three times a 
day, during her last lingering ilhiess. Her sense of smell 
was afflicted in a peculiar and supernatural manner. 
For her, the atmosphere was physically tainted with 
the sins of the world : she could literally smell sin. 
This was an intolerable torment. Her sense of touch 
had also its share of sufiering, particularly the gifted 
right hand. Every sense, in short, was an avenue of 
torture. Besides all this, she was afflicted with gout, 
asthma,. and other painful maladies, external and in- 
ternal, the bare enumeration of which makes one shud- 
der. The rheumatic pains from which she especially 
suffered in her arms and legs during the closing years 
of her life, and in spite of which she still endeavoured 
to work even during her last mortal illness, out of her 
great abhoiTence of idleness and an easy life, would 
have been alone sufficient to force comjDlainta from one 
who had had nothing else to bear. 

Anna Maria, however, never complained, either by 
word or look : this was part of the secret of her victory. 
"We may be silent under suffering, it is true, from many 
motives ; from a mixture of discretion and of kindness, in 
order not to become wearisome ; from a natural reserve, 
difficult sometimes to account for, but apparently con- 
nected in some way with a secret sense of our own dig- 
nity ; or, again, from a kind of natural fortitude and 
generosity of spirit, which makes us reckon it an un- 
worthy and childish indulgence to lament ourselves. 
Tet none of these motives, not even what is a far 
higher one, a sense of the duty of Christian resignation, 
suffice to achieve the present victory of which we are 



A SHINING EXAMPLE OF ALL VIRTUES. 163 

speaking, althougli even those of the natural order 
which have been enumerated may, by repressing the 
manifestations of impatience or of sadness, more or less 
serve to check them, and thus to form a habit of self- 
control. Eut Anna Maria's motive was the highest of 
all, the love of God and conformity to His will, by 
which she made His will hers. Sufferings which came 
to her by His appointment became thus voluntary sur- 
ferings, combining all, and more than, the merit of what 
is self-elected with the characteristics that belong to 
A^oluntary mortifications. Hence her silence ; for who 
is there who does not feel the inconsistency of com- 
plaining of voluntary sufferings'? From their nature 
these demand concealment. And this very exterior 
silence re-acted again upon her inwardly, to silence the 
rebellion of the interior senses. The inward revolt dies 
for want of air and exercise. The garrison is starved 
when it can make no sortie. But the blockade, in 
order to be effectual, must be real and complete ; 
otherwise we shall be all the while admitting supplies 
underhand, thereby feeding and irritating the very vice 
which we outwardly control. N^ay, we shall get to 
fancy that we had best pacify it by a little indulgence, 
and we seem temporarily to succeed by so doing. From 
this circumstance proceeds the very common delusion 
that evil feelings and passions are damped and weakened 
by allowing them the relief of some moderate expres- 
sion. Father Faber, treating of temptations, alludes to 
this delusion, * with which the devil tries to possess us, 
that if we give way in some of the circumstances of the 
temptation, or to the temptation itself, short of sin, wo 
shall weaken it. . . . It is strange that so gross a snare 
should succeed; yet it does so in many cases. Wo 
must remember, therefore, that to yield is to weaken 



104 V. ANNA MAHTA TAIOI. 

oiirsclvos, not ilio tcnnptation.'* It is because wo are 
so ])r()no to play tliis losinj^ game, that we make such 
slow j)ronr(\ss n^^ainst our old Adam and always remain 
clamhcring nnd siru^^'f^linf^ near the l)ase of the hill, 
wliose sunnnit; is ilio ])errecti(m we aim at, hut shall 
iKivcr tlms Ktacli. Anna Maria had struggled after 
another fashion and come off victorious. Even when 
* crucified on hei' Ixid of suffering,' to use her confessor's 
em])hatic terms, slu^ sudcired without uttering a single 
(M)ni])laint, and with so serene and cheerful a counten- 
ance that she filled all who saw and spoke to her with 
joy and consolation, and inspiVed the afflicted who ap- 
j)lied i;0 h(U' with fresh courage to })ear their own trials. 
Instead of craving syni])athy for herself, as is the custom 
with great sufferers, she Avas as much as ever all sym- 
pathy for others ; forgetting In^r own ])ains, she in- 
terested herself all'ectionately in the troubles of every 
one with a sweetness and tendern(;ss of manner which 
was inexpr('.ssil)ly soothing ; and, no matter what she 
might be CMilhid to endure, it was ever the same. She 
was always placid, cheerful, courageous, always aban- 
don(Ml in all things to the will of her Lord. 

* In order to ])rolong her ])ainful existcnice,' says the 
confessor, ^(Jod vouchsafed, for Uu) interests of her 
neighbour, to indicate to lier minutely what remedies 
she ought to takrj ; and this favour certaiidy deserves 
to ])e counted among snj)ernatural gracu3S.' Yet we shall 
lind her s])irit of ohedienee causing her to submit to the 
fallihhi and, ns she kn(;w to a certainty, the erroneous 
o])ini()n of (hx-tors, when Uioy ])reseril)ed what was in 
contradietion with her divinci lights. 

iluiniliiy and i)ati(uice are kindred virtues, nay, 
they are so elosely connected as to bcj insepai-ahlc;. No 
* Growth ill Holiness^ chap. xvi. p. 202. 



A SHINING EXAMPLE OF ALL VIRTUES. 1G5 

one can bo perfectly humble without being patient, or 
perfectly patient without being humble. Patience im- 
plies liumility, and humility works and produces pa- 
tience. Hence humility may be regarded as the main 
root and principle of patience. Humility, again, has 
an intimate connection with obedience ; these three 
virtues being so. closely interwoven as to become almost 
idciutitied with each other. It is true that humility lies 
at tiie basis of the whole Christian character, so that in 
its absence the entire superstructure rests on an unsound 
foundation ; and where humility is deficient not a single 
virtue can be practised with any excellence, however 
little connection it may appear to have with it. It will 
be either quite vitiated or more or less alloyed, as the 
case may be ; but, as we have just said, the two virtues 
of ])ati(ince and obedience are so obviously conjoined 
with humility that they may be almost viewed as being, 
not its fruits merely, not simply as deriving their per-/ 
fection froiu it, but another aspect of itsolf; in short, 
humility in exercise. ' Without an extraordinary foun- 
dation of humility,' o})serves the Cardinal, 'Anna Maria 
would never have ])ractised continually this tran([uil 
and imperturba})le resignation to the Divine will on the 
most painful occasions. Without an extraordinary fund 
of humility she (iould never have arrived at the perfect 
obe(li(5nce which she practised constantly and in the 
most lutroic manncir, whether towards her confessor or 
towards \w.v hushand, and that in spite of his trying 
temi)er, and g(inei\illy towards all tho m(;mb(irs of her 
household, renouncing hcir own judgment in all things, 
notwithstanding th(5 sujx'rnatui'al lights with which she 
was (iudowod.' Anna, Maria was jii'ol'oundly convincicd 
that the (:r(;a,ture oritsfill' jjas nothing hut an inheritance 
"of miseries and evils caused by sin ; henee slie rt'ferred 



166 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

all good, whether spiritual or temporal, to God, and 
was most solicitous to direct others to do the same. 
Accordingly, it troubled her much to be thanked when 
she had effected a miraculous cure, and she would in- 
stantly bid the grateful person thank God, who had 
healed the sick through the intercession of the Blessed 
Virgin or of such and such a saint. 

She watched also with a jealous fear over this 
ownership of God as regarded herself, trembling lest 
she should ever defraud Him, and never ceased implor- 
ing the Lord with tears and sighs to sustain her in her 
battles. This was one of the ends for which she moi- 
tified herself; and, intimately convinced of her own 
nothingness, weakness, and misery, she avoided most 
carefully even the smallest occasion of offending God, 
using as much caution as if she had been a mere no- 
vice in the paths of virtue. She so dreaded the dan- 
gers attending human praise and distinction, appre- 
hending therein some snare of the devil to work her 
perdition, that in the early days of her conversion, when 
persons began to flock in crowds to her for advice or to 
beg her help for the sick, their esteem and admiration 
were a positive torment to her, of which she complained 
to God, telling Him in her simplicity that she saw well 
that He did not love her; otherwise He would lead her 
by the path of abjection and obloquy, which He Him- 
self had trodden. Her prayers were heard in the end, 
and she obtained her full share, as we have noticed, of 
opprobrium and contempt. Meanwhile her prudence 
came to the assistance of her humility to enable her to 
keep herself as much as possible concealed ; and the 
Cardinal records it as one of the proofs of the heroic 
degree in which she possessed that virtue ; for, urged 
and animated as she was by a burning zeal to do as much 



A SHINING EXAMPLE OF ALL VIRTUES. 167 

good, private and public, as lay in her power, it was as- 
suredly a difficult task, requiring a consummate discre- 
tion, to reconcile such a vocation with a hidden and 
obscure life. ' Certainly,' says the Cardinal, ' it needed 
ability of a supernatural kind to let light shine in the 
midst of darkness, and yet keep the focus whence it 
proceeded concealed. What profound humility,' he 
continues, ^what detachment, what heroic prudence 
did it not require to keep herself in the shade, while she 
was giving counsels to sovereigns, ecclesiastics, princes, 
and persons of every class who sought her advice ! She 
did not swerve from this rule save in cases of most ob- 
vious necessity, and she was able to meet every demand 
upon her by the most admirable regulation of her time.' 
Yet, notwithstanding all her efforts, the splendour of 
her supernatural gifts, of which she made use for the 
glory of God and the benefit of her neighbour, would 
not alv/ays permit of her eclipsing herself as she desired. 
* She earnestly recommended silence,' he tells us, ' to 
those who received extraordinary graces through her 
means, and by a holy artifice strove to convince them 
that she was the most miserable creature in the world. 
Still, as people naturally are disposed to point out to 
others the remedy which has been successful in effect- 
ing a cure in their own case, the reputation of Anna 
Maria, particularly in these first times, spread so widely, 
that she was perpetually besieged both at home and in 
the churches by persons who sought her aid. Her poor 
little house at the bottom of a lane was frequented by 
persons of rank, who trod under foot human respect to 
enjoy the advantage of consulting so privileged a soul. 
Prelates who were afterwards raised to the Cardinalate, 
princes, distinguished ladies, were often to be seen there. 
The Cardinal Ercolani, the Cardinal lliganti, the Car- 



168 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

dinal Cesari, Monsignor Mastai, and others were ac- 
quainted with her. Foreign bishops visiting Rome con- 
sulted her on the most important concerns of their 
dioceses ; amongst others, Mgr. Strambi* used to recom- 
mend affairs of consequence to her prayers, and wait 
for her answer before proceeding to act. Pope Pius 
VII., of holy memory, was wont to ask me news of 
Anna Maria every time I sought an audience of him ; 
he used to charge me to give her his blessing and re- 

* Yincenzo Maria Strambi was 'born at Civita Vecchia in the 
year 1745, and, after being ordained priest, became one of the 
earliest associates of St. Paul of the Cross, the Founder of the 
Passionists. Strambi devoted himself to missions, catechetical 
instruction, and the other exercises of the Evangelical ministry. 
In 1801 he was made Bishop of Macerata and Tolentino by 
Pope Pius VII., and soon acquired general esteem and respect 
by his charity and the wisdom of his administration. Deported 
by the French usurping government, in consequence of his 
fidelity to the Pope, he bore his sufferings and privations with 
heroic constancy ; and to whatever place he was taken he won 
the love and favour of the inhabitants, so that he was enabled 
to collect abundant alms for the poor of his own diocese. On 
his return he devoted himself energetically to repair the evil 
that had been done, and to restore and increase the institutions 
of piety. From the hour that he was made Bishop to his most 
advanced years he never ceased to discharge with zeal one of 
the special offices of the Episcopal office — preaching the Word. 
He would even go and help his colleagues in neighbouring dio- 
ceses ; but so strict an observer was he of ecclesiastical disci- 
pline, that he always on these occasions procured a Papal dis- 
pensation on account of the obligation of residence. His hu- 
mility was as remarkable as his other wtues, and it led him to 
make frequent applications for permission to resign his see. In 
1823 Leo XII. consented to his resignation, and caused him to 
take up his abode with him in the Quirinal, that he might have 
the benefit of his counsels. He died of apoplexy Jan. 2, 1825. 
The cause of his beatification and canonization was introduced 
in the month of June, 1843. He left several religious works 
written in Italian, chiefly relating to the Passion. One work 
of Mgr. Strambi is well known in England, his Life of St. Paul 
of the Cross, forming part of the Oratorian series. 



A SHINING EXAMPLE OF ALL VIRTUES. 169 

commend himself to her prayers. Leo XII. also con- 
ceived a great esteem of the servant of God in conse- 
quence of what Mgr. Strambi told him; Mgr. Menocchio,* 
Brother Felice of Montefiascone, a Capuchin, and a 
number of other personages who have died in the odour ' 
of sanctity, kept up continued relations v/ith Anna Maria 
on account of the high esteem in which they held her.* 
Considering the great lights vouchsafed to her, and 
her connection and interest with so many influential 
individuals, she might easily, the Cardinal is of opinion, 
have made herself illustrious in the ways of God by 
founding some pious institute. Other holy souls have 
been moved to do so, but this was not her vocation, 
and to her vocation she strictly adhered. More than 
this, in the absence of any such divine call, she was ex- 
tremely averse to everything of the sort, owing to her 
fear of all novelties and especially from her dread of 
self-love. ^ On several occasions,' says the same wit- 
ness, ' she advised certain persons who consulted her 
to improve and develop the many excellent institutions 
already existing in Eome, instead of creating fresh ones. 
^' Thus," she said, " good is done, and the devil is played 
a trick, finding no means of introducing himself through 
self-love, ambition, and the glory of propagating the 
name of a new institution." ' Maria Luisa, Queen of 

* The Venerable Bartolomeo Menocchio of the Hermits of 
St. Augustine. He was made Prefect of the Apostolic Sacristy 
and Bishop of Porfirio by Pius VII. in 1800. He was also the 
Pope's confessor. He accompanied him to Paris when he went 
to crown Napoleon in 1804. When that Pontiff was carried away 
prisoner in 1809, Mgr. Menocchio was the only Bishop allowed 
to remain in Kome, notwithstanding his refusal to take the oath 
of allegiance to the French Government. On the return of 
Pius VII. in 1814, Mgr. Menocchio resumed his office of Apos- 
tolic Sacristan and confessor to the Pope. He died in 1822, or 
1823. His cause was introduced 22d April, 1871. 



170 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

Etruria, and afterwards Duchess of Lucca, had a special 
veneration and affection for Anna Maria. So high was 
the opinion she entertained of her great lights and con- 
summate prudence, that she abstained from taking a 
'single step in either public or private affairs without 
consulting the servant of God. When this princess 
happened to meet Anna Maria in the streets of Eome, 
she would, although accompanied by her court, eagerly 
kiss her hands to her and salute her most affectionately 
and familiarly. Eut the holy woman did all in her 
power to avoid having such an honour paid to her, and, 
if she espied the duchess's equipage in the distance, she 
would slip under an archway, to hide herself till the 
train had passed. She would not have taken this 
trouble to shun contempt ; nay, she would have gone 
t.heerfully to meet and welcome it. The same humility 
which made her shun honour made her pay due honour 
to all. She treated every one with unaffected respect, 
a respect proportioned in its degree and in its forms to 
the claims and position of the individual. Priests, on 
account of their sublime office and the consecration they 
have received, had the first claim on her regard ; after 
them, she honoured those upon whom God had been 
pleased to confer secular rank or dignity ; ^ she saw in 
them,' says the Cardinal, *a providential order, and 
humbled herself with the deference to which they are 
entitled.' In the poor she saw the favourites of Jesus 
Christ, and this gave them a title in her eyes to special 
reverence and affection. For if in the great ones of the 
earth she respected and honoured the delegated authority 
which they had received from Him, in these little ones she 
venerated and loved His person, which they represented. 
Another genuine evidence of humility noticed by 
the Cardinal may here be adduced, and this was that 



A SHINING EXAMPLE OF ALL VIRTUES. 171 

if she perceived she had committed some fault, albeit 
an involuntary one, she never laid it to anything or 
anybody. How rare such abstention is, it requires but 
a little observation or, indeed, self-examination to con- 
vince us. Many who will refrain from shifting the 
blame upon others in order to exonerate themselves 
can seldom forego the alleviation to mortified self-love 
of a mild species of excuse, which takes the form of 
merely mentioning what caused or occasioned a fault 
which otherwise would not have been committed. But 
Anna Maria not only never accused creatures of being 
in any way the occasion of her shortcomings, but she 
did not even relieve herself by throwing the responsi- 
bility on the devil, whose temptations (as the Cardinal 
observes) so many persons are in the habit of urging 
in extenuation of their faults. ' It breaks the shame 
of our faults,' says Father Taber, * to believe that in 
every instance we have wrestled and been thrown by 
an evil angel of tremendous power, and not that through 
cowardice, effeminacy, and self-love we have simply 
given in to the suggestions of our own irresolute will.'* 
Bat Anna Maria acted very differently ; she accepted, 
for herself the whole shame and blame of her slight 
and infrequent faults or imperfections — in her eyes 
always great, because defects in the service of Him who 
is Infinite Majesty and Infinite Goodness, and who had 
made her so rich by the abundance of His favours — and 
turned with a holy indignation against herself, sa^dng 
that she was a proud and foolish creature, fit only to 
do wrong ; and then followed redoubled mortifications. 
And all this was done without petulance or vexation, 
for she was thoroughly convinced in her heart that she 
was the most miserable and contemptible of beings; 
* Growth in Holiness, p. 186. 



172 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

tlie sublime gifts she had received serving hut to humble 
her the more, from her view of her own unworthiness. 
So far from being tempted therefore to parade them, 
she would gladly have altogether concealed them, had 
that been compatible with the purpose for which they 
had been conferred on her, or with submission to those 
who had the spiritual direction of her soul. When 
forced by obedience to manifest her heavenly gifts, her 
humility took refuge in the most modest forms it could 
adopt : for instance, she would never say, ^ The Lord 
spoke to me,' or, ' The Blessed Virgin said so and so 
to me,' but she would use some such phrase as, 
' While I was praying to God, or the Holy Virgin, or 
such a saint, I heard this or that.' To conclude in the 
words of Cardinal Pedicini, who had so long and Inti- 
mate a knowledge of her : ^ she was humble in heart, 
humble in demeanour, humble and simple in her dress, 
humble in her conversation, in all things keeping her- 
self as low as she could ; and this gift of profound 
humility was a special grace.' 

Her humility in her behaviour to those above her 
in station, was never tainted with the least obsequious- 
ness. She was as true and frank as she was humble. 
* Respectful by education and from humility,' says her 
confessor, ^but at the same time sincere and frank 
when it was question of speaking the truth for the 
glory of God and the good of her neighbour, she never 
knew what it was to practise adulation towards the 
great.' Her letters to the Duchess of Lucca as well as 
those to the Princess Vittoria Barberini are alone a 
•proof of this. A Cardinal* who desired to see her and 
make her acquainted with his sister, sent to request her 

* Monsignor Luquet says that this Cardinal was Cardinal 
Fesch, Napoleon's uncle and his sister Mdme. Letitia Buona- 
parte, the Emperor's mother. 



I 



A SHINING EXAMPLE OF ALL VIRTUES. 173 

prayers, begging her to inform him of the lights she 
might receive. The servant of God replied by bidding 
the Cardinal tell his sister to meditate in the mean time 
on these three points : what she had been, what she 
was, and what she would soon be ; and prepare for 
death. To persons of all ranks, indeed, who presented 
themselves to her for advice, she kindly but without 
reserve pointed out their faults, for she had an instant 
and unerring knowledge of them by means of the mys- 
terious sun. *A thousand instances might be cited,' 
says the confessor, ' which testify to her frankness and 
to her love of truth ; she could not endure those pre- 
tences, disguises, and flatteries which are so common 
in our day. " He who serves God," she used to say, 
" ought to be respectful and humble, but at the same 
time frank and simple." ' 

W^e shall not attempt to follow any farther the 
enumeration of Anna Maria's virtues. To do so would 
detain us too long ; besides, they will incidentally come 
before us when treating of other subjects. We have 
chosen patience and humility for particular considera- 
tion, as in a former chapter we selected mortification, 
not only because so many other virtues are included in 
their eminent practice, but because, if any were more 
especially characteristic of one who was called to ex- 
hibit so perfect an example of all Christian excellences, 
assuredly these three must be named : mortification, 
humility, patience. Hers was a penitential life, and 
her greatest penance was the continual and unceasing 
contradiction of her will in all things. She was nailed 
to the cross all her days. By humility she accepted 
the cross, by mortification she crucified herself, and by 
patience she allowed herself to be crucified, and thus 
performed her part in accomplishing the work to which 
she had been called and fulfilling her vocation. 



174 



CHAPTEE XL 
ANNA Maria's devotion to the mysteries op the 

INFANCY AND PASSION, AND TO THE BLESSED SACRA- 
MENT. 

Anna Maria had the teiiderest devotion to the 
Sacred Infancy. Hence, when Christmas was ap- 
proaching, she always made a very fervent preparation, 
especially during the nine preceding days. For this 
end she nsed to assist at a very early hour at the l^o- 
vena in the Church of San "Bartolomeo in the Piazza 
Colonna, taking no account of the cold of the dark 
winter mornings or of her many bodily infirmities ; and 
God rewarded her by according her very special graces 
during those nine days. She used also at that season 
to place a little image of the Infant Jesus on her own 
domestic altar, before which, in prolonged contempla- 
tion on a God thus abasing Himself and becoming poor 
and little for our sakes, she daily studied the lessons 
of the Crib. Several times, when thus engaged, she 
heard a divine voice exhorting her to a generous imita- 
tion of the poverty of the Infant Saviour. Bethlehem 
and Calvary were Anna Maria's twcT abodes. The Sa- 
crifice of the Lamb of God was ever present to her 
mind : she saw it begun in the Manger and consum- 
mated on the Cross ; and it was this sight continually 
before her spiritual eye which animated her courage, 
furnished ever fresh aliment to her love, and filled her 
with a generous spirit of perseverance. The Cross re- 
ceived special honours in her family sanctuary; she 
had a particle of the wood of that sacred tree, ' in quo 
jpependit Solus Mundi^ and every day, with her chil- 
dren, she adored and kissed it with profound venera- 



HER DEVOTION TO THE PASSION. 175 

tion. * It was the continual occupation of her life/ 
writes the Cardinal, 'to contemplate the inexplicable 
sufferings of our dear and gracious Jesus; after His 
example, and in order to resemble Him in suffering, 
she endeavoured to crucify herself entirely in flesh and 
spirit for the love of Him/ Hence her mortifications, 
her fasts, her disciplines were redoubled on the Fridays, 
but all, as we have said, subject to obedience to her 
confessor ; for well she knew that ' obedience is better 
than sacrifice.' She had no greater desire than to be 
despised for the love of God, and to drink with Him of 
the chalice of His Passion — if we might not rather 
say that it was her one predominant desire ; and God 
abundantly satisfied this longing of her soul. 

She would seek in preference the least frequented 
or most solitary places, there to indulge her devotion 
freely and meditate undisturbed on the Passion of our 
Lord. She often went to the Cemetery of the Santo 
Spirito, or that of St. John Lateran, and to the Cruci- 
fix of San Paolo without the walls, particularly on 
Fridays; and yet Friday was a day of great bodily 
suffering to her, the habitual pains in her head being 
then aggravated, as we have already noticed, and this 
most of all during the three hours of our Lord's agony, 
forcing streams of tears from her eyes if she attempted 
to occupy herself or encountered the light. Eegardless 
of these sufferings, which, however, were sometimes so 
excessive as to confine her to her bed, she would walk 
barefooted to the above-mentioned places, and there 
cmain speechless for hours, all absorbed in the con- 
templation of the Dolorous Mysteries. She would also 
visit in the evening the Mamertine Prison for forty 
consecutive days in the same manner. The devotion 
oi the Way of the Cross was peculiarly dear to licr, her 



176 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

Lord ha^'ing made known to her that it was veiy agree- 
able to Him. Accordingly, she had herseK inscribed 
in the Confraternity of the Coliseum, and never, if 
possible, omitted to assist publicly at this exercise. 
During the unhappy times of the militar}^ occupation 
of Eome by the French, when the holy pontiff Pius YII. 
had been carried away into captivity, she multiplied 
her visits to the Seven Basilicas. It was her custom 
to take off her stockings at the gate of San Paolo, and 
thus make her whole pilgrimage of six or seven hours 
barefooted.* She would undertake these same pil- 
grimages, notwithstanding the heavy cross which her 
own physical sufferings and the ever pressing needs of 
her family laid upon her, whenever she perceived that 
any one who had injured, calumniated, or persecuted 
her was undergoing chastisement from God, and this 
with the sole object of obtaining pardon and grace for 
her enemies, after the example of Jesus, who prayed on 
the Cross for His murderers. 

These acts of virtue were the more meritorious be- 
cause, as Cardinal Pedicini, who mentions them, states, 
the ^dvacity of her character incHned her naturally to 
resentment. They show how deeply she must have 
learned the lessons of the Cross and drunk of the spirit 
of the Crucified. It is not the absence of resentful 
feelings which makes the true Christian. Eesentment 
in itself, as appertaining to our nature, and apart from 
any accidental disproportion to its cause, and from any 
evil interior tempers of mind or exterior acts offensive 
to charity to which it may lead, is not sin ; neither is 

* In the last years of her Kfe, when she was assailed by so 
many infii*mities, she contented herself, out of obedience to her 
confessor, with going barefoot only from the gate of the city to 
the Basilica of S. Paolo. 



HER DEVOTION TO THE PASSION. 177 

there any merit in the want of it. It is the sense of 
wrong and injustice, combined Avith the natural love 
of self as their object, .which excites it. Persons of 
refined sensibility, of lively consciousness of what is 
•right and wrong, and of high-strung nervous organisa- 
tion, will feel keenly where duller and more obtuse and 
nnexcitable natures will be comparatively unmoved, 
As is the case with all the human passions, it is in its 
indulgence that sin is to be found, and in its rebellion 
against the supremacy of reason. Eut the true Chris- 
tian aspires to something much higher than the due 
regulation of his passions and their reduction to the 
obedience of reason. He does not aim simj^y at re- 
turning to the state of the first Adam and regaining his 
lost advantages. Glorious as were the gifts and the 
beauty of the state of innocence, which included the 
integrity of nature along with the possession of super- 
natural grace, the redeemed state surpasses and excels 
it in dignity by reason of the superior dignity of the 
Second Adam, the Lord from Heaven. Ey virtue of 
his union with. the crucified God-Man, the true Chris- 
tian adopts all the sentiments, all the desires, all the 
predilections of his Divine Head. He loves what He 
loved, hates what He hated, chooses what He chose. 
Christ alone now lives in him ; and when that divine 
life is thus allowed its full and perfect development — 
as alas ! it so seldom is — then we have a saint in the 
degree and measure of sanctity to which his soul was 
called. All former things have passed away, every- 
thing within has received a new bent and direction, no 
matter what the old disposition may have been ; and 
if the old nature had some leaning more excessive than 
another, it was only that the triumph of grace in the 
formation of the new man might be more splendidly 

N 



178 V. AXXA MARIA TAIGI, 

manifested. And so it Tras \nth Anna Maria : she had 
no resentments now according to flesh and blood ; she 
hated only sin, hut she loved the sinner, for whom the 
Precious Blood was shed and the Sacred Heart was 
pierced ; while for those who had injured her person- 
ally she had only a tenderer compassion, loving them 
with a special charity as the instruments of rendering 
her more perfectly conformable to the Passion of her 
Lord. So penetrated was she with this compassion 
that, in recommending any one to God in prayer, her 
heart seemed as it were dissolved. Tears, of which she 
had the gift, poured from her eye^; and it was the 
same the 'moment her thoughts dwelt on the Passion of 
the Saviour, or on the Dolours of His Blessed Mother. 
To the Precious Blood the price of our redemption and 
the ransom of sinners, and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 
opened for the love of us, which gave forth Its last 
drops, she was most tenderly devout. The Heart of 
Jesus was her refuge at all times, to which she fled for 
the supply of every necessity, for fortitude and conso- 
lation under every sorrow. Each day she fervently 
invoked that Divine Heart when kneeling with her 
family before the domestic altar, committing to It their 
wants and desires, the conversion of sinners, and all 
the needs and interests of Holy Church, in accents of 
filial confidence and love which testified to the close 
bond wliich joined her heart to the Heart of her Lord 
and to the likeness which love had created between 
them. ' Her heart,' says the Cardinal, ^ was of wax for 
God and for her neighbour.^ 

Words fail to describe her devotion to the Blessed 
Sacrament. By the order of her confessors she com- 
municated daily, a practice which she began in the early 
times of her conversion and was enabled to maintain 



HER DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. 179 

until the last day of her life. We have seen how this 
holy woman would pass into an ecstasy at the mere sight 
or sound of some object of God's material creation. 
His power, His goodness, and His love therein displayed 
ravished her soul with delight : what, then, it may bo 
imagined, were her sentiments in regarding that Miracle 
of Intinite Love, the Adorable Eucharist, and still more 
in partaking of It ! The Cardinal Pedicini, so long the 
confidant of the most secret thoughts of Anna Maria, 
avers that the transports of her heart towards this great 
Mystery are as difficult to believe as to narrate, and that 
language is utterly inadequate to express the joy which 
filled and inebriated her soul when she was kneeling 
before the Tabernacle, or the divine favours of which 
she was the recipient at those times. She had no sooner 
knelt down before the altar than her countenance would 
become like that of an adoring seraph, in which we 
picture to ourselves love and veneration as blended in 
an ineffable manner. Her whole figure assumed the 
immobility of a statue, and you might have believed 
her to be inanimate but for the tears which coursed 
down her cheeks and the irrepressible sighs which from 
time to time arose from the depths of her bosom. 

These sighs and tears must not be confounded with 
the demonstrations in which ordinary pious souls will 
sometimes indulge, and with which an excitable nature 
has not seldom as much to do as sensible devotion. 
We seem to know this instinctively, since we may 
venture to say that few persons will be found who are 
not more teased and disturbed than edified by having a 
neighbour of this class at church. But it was other- 
wise in the case we are describing. Anna Maria's tears 
and sighs had a supernatural source, and people loved 
to draw near and observe her reverentially, feeling their 



180 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

o^vn faith and love renewed at the spectacle. Her 
spiritual sons in particular loved to be near her when 
she communicated. While in this ecstatic state, her 
senses would be so completely dead to all external im- 
pressions that no noise whatsoever was capable of re- 
calling her to herself, although even a tacit command 
from one who had spiritual authority over her, and even 
from any priest, would have an instantaneous effect. 
Cardinal Pedicini says that frequently, after giving her 
Communion, he secretly transmitted to her from the 
altar the command to repress the movements of her 
heart. This was in order to avoid attracting attention, 
particularly in a church of moderate dimensions like the 
Madonna della Pieta. AYhen these emotions occurred 
in distant and thinly frequented churches, such as San 
Paolo fuori le Mura and others, where he happened to 
say Mass for her, he did not interfere with the effects 
of her fervour. And indeed it was most painful to 
witness the efforts which obedience cost her when she 
was enjoined to repress them, manifested, as the Car- 
dinal says, by the streams of perspiration which poured 
from her face, and this even in winter. In these efforts 
she was generally successful, God permitting her to pre- 
vail, and she would then fall into a calm and delightful 
ecstasy, unconscious of anything around her. If the 
ecstasy began before Communion, she came to herself 
when the priest approached with the Sacred Host, re- 
ceived It with great devotion, and returned to her state 
of contemplation. 

A striking instance of the complete suspension of 
her external senses, when in the ecstatic state, oc- 
curred at the time of the Prench EepubHc. There was 
a call to arms on the Piazza Colonna, where all the 
troops mustered. The beating of drums and the loud 



HER DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. 181 

vociferations of tlie mob, which had also gathered there, 
alarmed the quiet congregation in the Madonna della 
Pieta, who all hastily left the church. In a moment 
the sacred edifice was cleared, and the sacristan was 
about to close the door as a precautionary measure, 
when he perceived one worshipper still remaining, 
fixed and immovable. It was Anna Maria. She had 
heard nothing of the uproar without, and had noticed 
nothing of the disturbance within and the sudden de- 
parture of the congregation. She continued equally 
deaf to the sacristan's voice, and his repeated requests 
that she would leave the church. In fact, she had just 
received Communion, and had fallen into an ecstasy. 
The sacristan, finding himself unable to rouse her, 
finished by locking her up in the church ; and great 
was her surprise, when at last she was restored to con- 
sciousness, to find herself alone in the sacred building ! 
These raptures, indeed, were so frequent after Com- 
munion that they might almost be said to be habitual. 
As soon as she had received her Lord she would com- 
monly hear His voice internally, and its first accents 
would plunge her into an ecstasy, which usually lasted 
a considerable time. Occasionally, however, surprised 
by the flame of divine love, she would fall to the ground 
after receiving the Sacred Host, like one in a death 
swoon. Cardinal Pedicini relates one instance when, 
many persons being present and remarking the occur- 
rence, Anna Maria, on coming to herself, was over- 
whelmed with confusion. She lovingly remonstrated 
with her Heavenly Spouse, but received only this 
reply : * You will have to suffer these things yet many 
times.' The Cardinal was himself to be the frequent 
witness of these occurrences. ' Often,' he says, * have 
I seen her fall, after receiving Communion, as if struck 



182 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

by lightning, and thus remain a long time in the sweet 
expansions of divine love. Whoever drew near to her 
on such occasions felt an impression of heavenly tran- 
quillity. Sometimes persons would experience in their 
hearts a deep sentiment of the love of God, accom- 
panied with humility and compunction; sometimes a 
celestial perfume was perceptible ; and the same phe- 
nomena would occur during her visits to the Blessed 
Sacrament, when exposed during the devotion of the 
Quarant' Ore.' 

She knew by a kind of heavenly instinct where the 
Blessed Sacrament was, and would at once go up to 
the chapel in which It was reserved, when for some 
reason It had been removed. She had also the gift of 
discerning It by a delicious sweetness in her mouth as 
soon as she had received Communion. A priest in the 
church of San Ignazio, whether to prove her or for 
whatever other motive, one day committed the very 
reprehensible act of giving her an unconsecrated par- 
ticle. Anna Maria discovered the fraud at once through 
this special gift with which she was favoured; she was 
at the same time inwardly directed by the heavenly 
voice to apprise her confessor ; and it is from him we 
learn these facts. The priest on being taxed with the 
deception acknowledged his fault. 

Many other marvels might be mentioned of this 
holy woman in connection with the Blessed Sacrament ; 
such, for instance, as occurred in the Church of San 
Carlino, the same where she had so fervently assumed 
the habit of the Third Order of the Trinitarians. An 
Irish priest was saying Mass, and Anna Maria was 
waiting to receive Communion, when behold ! upon 
his turning round to the congregation holding aloft the 
Sacred Host and pronouncing the words : * Eccs Agnus 



HER DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN. 183 

Dei ; ecce qui tollit peccata mundi^ the consecrated 
particle flew from his hands and rested on the lips of 
the servant of God. Several persons present in the 
church were witnesses of this prodigy. And again, 
our Lord appeared to her in the Blessed Sacrament, 
when exposed in the Chnrch of Sant' Andrea' della 
Valle, surrounded with light and glory and arrayed in 
kingly majesty ; and upon another occasion of Exposi- 
tion, in Santa Maria della Consolazione, she beheld in 
the Sacred Host a lily of dazzling whiteness and beauty, 
from which a voice issued, which she distinctly heard 
to say these words : * I am the flower of the fields and 
the lily of the valleys.' The confessor, on whose au- 
thority we relate these manifestcitions, says that he 
selects these two instances from others of a similar 
kind. 



CHAPTER XII. 
ANNA Maria's devotion to the mother of god, and to 

THE SAINTS AND ANGELS. HER CHARITY TO THE HOLY 
SOULS IN PURGATORY. 

We have several times alluded to Anna Maria's 
tender devotion to the Blessed Mother of God ; and, 
had we not noticed it, it might well have been inferred. 
What good Catholic but loves and is devout to Mary ? 
what saint but has excelled in this love and devotion ? 
We might say that the love of Mary is the test and the 
measure of the love of Jesus ; and therefore it is but 
natural to expect that those who have abounded in love 
to the Son should have had a corresponding love for 
the Mother. They have also had a corresponding 



184 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

veneration for her and ajDpreciation of her high posi- 
tion in the scheme of redemption; for the more the 
mind ponders on the gi'eat mystery of the Incarnation, 
which ranks next to that of the Adorable Trinity, the 
clearer becomes its insight into the sublime dignity of 
the Divine Maternity, — into all that is included therein, 
and all that flows therefrom. 

But such souls not only grow in love and venera- 
tion for the Mother of the Divine Eedeemer, because 
she is His Mother, but they also attain to a fuller per- 
ception of her relation to themselves, as their mother 
also. That she is our mother by adoption we all know, 
and how that adoption took place in the person of St. 
John at the foot of the Cross ; but when souls obtain 
a deeper view of their own adoption in Christ, and of 
all that is meant by that filiation which enables us to 
cry 'Abba, Father' to Him who is by nature the Father 
also of our Lord Jesus Christ, — an adoption not merely 
nominal, like human adoptions, but true and real, 
through a new and spiritual birth, — then also do they 
come to have a more intimate and tender realisation of 
the motherhood of Mary in their regard, and they per- 
ceive that she was given by her Son to us, not only to 
exercise a mother's care in our behalf, great as such a 
boon alone would have been, but to be in a real sense 
also the mother of our souls, as she became by her 
fruitful compassion and doloiu's at the foot of the 
Cross. Anna Maria was so deeply penetrated with 
this truth, she loved her with so child-like an affection, 
that she could not name her without manifesting the 
tenderness of her feelings. ' Mia cava viadre — my 
dear mother,' she would commonly call her, or ' niia 
cava mamma,^ by a tender familiarity of affection so 
beautiful in Italian, but which we shrink from using in 



HER DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN. 185 

our uncatliolised language and uncatholised land ; thus 
appropriating her, to herself as her own. special mother, 
and no less so because she is also the mother of all 
who are brethren in Christ. Her whole soul kindled 
with love at the thought of Mary; and thus, when 
any occasion presented itself to speak of her, she be- 
came eloquent with that eloquence of the heart which 
has the gift of communicating to others something of 
the fire wdth which it is itself consumed. 

We have seen how she fasted every Saturday in 
her honour ; she also prepared herself to celebrate her 
different feasts by novenas and other fervent exercises 
of piety, fasting on the vigils. She addressed her fre- 
quently during the day in fervent ejaculations, never 
failing to kneel down and say the ^ Angelus' when the 
bell rang, and affectionately saluting her images at the 
corners of the streets. The sight of Mary at the foot of 
the Cross on Calvary always moved her deeply, and 
drew the tears from her eyes ; and she was often rav- 
ished in ecstasy when meditating before the images of 
Our Lady of Dolours or of Pity. To the mystery of the 
Dolours, indeed, she felt herself particularly attracted, 
the other of our Lady's mysteries which shared her 
special devotion being that of her Immaculate Con- 
ception. She also prayed frequently before the Ma- 
donna in her own oratory ; and, besides wearing the 
scapular, she had constantly next her heart a little 
image of the Mother of God, which was also the instru- 
ment of working many miracles. For as Anna Maria's 
C(jnfidenco in her * dear mother' was unbounded, and 
she never undertook anything without recommending 
it to her patronage — attributing all happy results to her 
intervention, and never ceasing to exalt the greatness 
and goodness of this incomparable Virgin — so did the 



186 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

Queen of Heaven repay the filial tenderness of her de- 
voted child by the most signal and singular favours. 

These marks of predilection were especially bestowed 
in seasons of sorrow and suffering, when this pious 
woman never failed to run to Mary for help and pro- 
tection. They were given sometimes in the form of 
consolation, sometimes in that of warning, advice, and 
instruction. A few instances of these heavenly locutions 
may here be noticed. Amongst the most remarkable, 
was the following. Having seen in the mysterious sun 
the loss of many souls, Anna Maria had been interced- 
ing fervently with the Blessed Virgin for their salva- 
tion, when the Mother of God was pleased to dictate 
to her this prayer : ' Prostrate at thy holy feet, great 
Queen of Heaven, I venerate thee with profoundest 
reverence, and acknowledge thee as the Daughter of 
God the Father, the Mother of the Divine Word, and 
the Spouse of the Holy Ghost. Thou art the treasurer 
and the distributor of Their mercies. It is because of 
thy most pure heart, so full of charity, sweetness, and 
tenderness for sinners, that I call thee mother of divine 
compassion. Wherefore I present myself to thee with 
great confidence, my most* loving mother ; I am in af- 
fliction and filled with anguish, and I pray thee to make 
me taste the truth of thy love by granting me the grace 
I ask of thee, if it be conformable to the Divine Will 
and good for my soul. I entreat thee to turn thy most 
pure eyes upon me and all belonging to me, especially 
those who have recommended themselves to my prayers. 
Eehold the terrible war which the devil, the world, and 
the flesh wage against our souls, and how many of 
these souls perish. Eemember, O most tender mother 
that we are all thy children, bought by the Precious 
Blood of thine only Son. Deign most ardently to pray 



HER DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN. 187 

the Blessed Trinity to grant me the grace always to 
vanquish the devil, the vt^orld, and all my bad passions, 
that grace by which the just are sanctified yet more, 
sinners reclaimed, heresies destroyed, infidels enlight- 
ened, Jews converted. 

* Ask, most loving mother, this grace through 
the infinite goodness of the Most High God, by the 
merits of thy Most Holy Son, by the milk with which 
thou didst nourish Him, by the devotedness with which 
thou didst serve Him, by the love wherewith thou didst 
love Him, by the tears which thou didst shed, by the 
sorrow thou didst experience in His most Sacred Pas- 
sion. Obtain for me this great gift, that the whole 
world may form one only people and one only Church, 
which may render glory, honour, and thanksgiving to 
the Blessed Trinity and to thee who art the mediatrix. 
May this grace be accorded to me by the power of the 
Father, the wisdom of the Son, and the virtue of the 
Holy Ghost. Amen. 

* Mother, behold the extreme peril of thy children. 
Mother, who canst do all things, have pity on us. 

' Virgo potens, ora pro nobis. Three Ave Marias. 

* Eternal Father, increase ever more in the hearts of 
the faithful devotion to Mary Thy Daughter. 

* Eternal Son, increase ever more in the hearts of 
the faithful devotion to Mary Thy Mother. 

* Eternal Spirit, increase ever more in the hearts of 
the faithful devotion to Mary Thy Spouse. 

' Gloria Patri.' 

Cardinal Pedicini himself took this prayer to the 
Sovereign Pontiff, Pius YIL, who, by a rescript of the 
6th March, 1809, granted an indulgence of a hundred 
days, to be gained for every recital, with a plenary 
indulgence once a month on the usual conditions. It 



188 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

was printed in the names of some pious persons, Anna 
Maria not -wishing to be mentioned in connection 
with it. 

One day, when she was praying in the Church of 
Ara Coeli, she heard a sweet and gracious voice issuing 
from a figure of our Lady painted on a column. The 
voice said, * My daughter, fear nothing ; I watch over 
thee amid the troublous sea which thou art traversing. 

Tell Father that I am here without a light, and 

that I wish to be particularly honoured in this place. If 
the Fathers should not do what I direct, I shall oblige 
them to do so by miracles.' Anna Maria faithfully 
transmitted the message with which she was charged, 
but it met with no attention, and her request was not 
granted. Then graces and prodigies speedily began to 
be manifested amongst those who honoured the sacred 
picture ; the piety and ardour of the faithful were re- 
vived ; and soon ex-votos and gifts concurred to attest 
the benefits received and the gratitude of Mary's de- 
voted clients. All honour was now paid to the sacred 
picture, which is kno^vn to this day as the Madonna 
of Fra Petronio, that being the name of the holy Ke- 
ligious who undertook its special care. 

Besides what she beheld in the mysterious sun, 
Anna Maria had other visions, and to one of these we 
will here allude, on account of its connection with our 
Blessed Lady and the office of Mediatrix of Intercession 
which she fills for the whole world ; an office to which 
Anna Maria was so peculiarly drawn to unite herself. 
Cardinal Pcdicini received the account of this appari- 
tion from her own lips. It took place when she was 
kneeling before her little domestic altar, and occurred 
on the night of the 21st March, 1812. The evils with 
which the world was afflicted in those davs of trouble 



IIER DEVOTION TO SAINTS AND ANGELS. 189 

and calamity, and especially the sufferings which the 
Church was undergoing, were the subject of her fervent 
prayer, when suddenly she beheld aloft a globe like 
to the earth, and entirely surrounded with flames, which 
threatened to consume it. On one side was Jesus Cruci- 
fied, torrents of blood pouring from His Sacred Wounds, 
and at His Feet was the Blessed Virgin, who, with her 
mantle spread out on the ground, was earnestly be- 
seeching the Saviour, by the merits of this Blood, which 
she offered for sinners, to turn away the scourge which 
menaced the world. Anna Maria united herself in 
spirit to this petition of Mary, and after awhile the 
vision vanished. Her confessor wished Luigi Antonini 
to execute a drawing representing what she had seen. 
He complied ; and when the Cardinal wrote his depo- 
sition he informs us that this spiritual son of the Yener- 
able Servant of God, still preserved it as a memorial of 
the apparition. 

Anna Mafia also received instructions and heavenly 
locutions from the holy Apostles, as the Cardinal tells 
us. *She profoundly venerated,' he says, *in St. Peter 
and St. Paul the promulgators of the holy faith in this 
city of Eome.* Among the martyrs, confessors, and 
virgins she had also many patrons. To St. Joseph, the 
spouse of our Lady, she was tenderly devout, and used 
to fast on Wednesdays in his honour. St. Pliili[) ISTeri, 
St. Francis of Paula, St. Aloysius Gonzaga, St. John 
of Matha and St. Felix of Yalois, the founders of the 
Order of the Most Holy Trinity, were also objects of 
her special devotion. We must not omit to notice in 
particular the glorious martyr, St. Filomena, through 
whose intercession Anna Maria performed some miracu- 
lous cures, and to whom, wlien dying, she bequeathed 
the care of her family. 'To all the angels,' says Car- 



190 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

dinal Pedicini, ^and, above all, to St. Michael, St. 
Gabriel, and St. Eapbael, she was singularly devout.' 
Her guardian angel, he tells us, guided and directed 
her continually in a supernatural and sensible manner ; 
and this, not only in the paths of virtue and holiness, 
but even in her common domestic work, teaching her 
how to do certain things and aiding her by his instruc- 
tions to rule and govern her. household. So familiar 
and sensible, indeed, were these communications, that 
we are told by her confessor that, when engaged in 
sweeping the house or in some other ordinary work, 
she would sometimes stop to ask her good angel why 
he did not answer her at once ; then, smiling, she would 
resume her occupation, having probably received her 
reply. 

Assistance of the character here described, we can- 
not doubt, would be, if not sensibly, yet substantially 
given much more frequently if it was sought in the 
manner in which Anna Maria sought it ; for she not 
only begged for help and light from her heavenly guide, 
but she listened and attended internally for his reply. 
The absence of listening in prayer all spiritual writers 
agree in signalising as a great mistake, into which even 
the devout often habitually fall.* J^ot that they would 
have us look out for supernatural manifestations, interior 

* Speaking of * Docility to the Holy Ghost,' Father Faber 
says, ' A habit of listening to Him is an essential part of the 
spiritual life ; without it, prayer can never be supernatural, or 
more than a pious habit ; not a real familiarity, or union of the 
soul with God.' He specifies three consequences which result 
from not listening to divine inspirations. * 1. Our own spiritual 
life and God's designs upon us are nothing but mist, confusion, 
and unmeaning generalities. 2. So we come in outward things 
to work on impulse, or from natural activity, without consult- 
ing or listening for the Holy Ghost. 3. Hence neither our works 
nor ourselves have the secret of success, or the root of perse- 



HER DEVOTION TO SAINTS AND ANGELS. 191 

words, and the like : this would he the height of pre- 
sumption ; but they tell us that we may, and, indeed, 
ought humbly to expect to be influenced divinely, at 
least through the workings of our own mind or in some 
way proportioned to our state and needs.* Such con- 
stant application to him who is ever beside us for the 
one purpose of helping us, and who (without intending 
thereby to disparage the love of any of God's saints or 
angels whom we may particularly honour and invoke) 
may be said to have for us that species of love which 
the human heart so covets, an exclusive love — seeing 
that we are the objects of the exclusive care of this 
dear heavenly friend — cannot ever fail to be rich in re- 



verance/ Notes on Doctrinal and Spiritual Subjects, vol. i. 
p. 123. These remarks are equally cogent whether applied to 
the movements of the Holy Spirit or to the inspirations of our 
heavenly monitor, who speaks to us in the name of God. 

* ' To perfect souls the divine voice and light is in a man- 
ner a continual guide, and they have a continual coiTespondence 
with it, evenintheir most ordinary smallest actions.' F.Baker, 
Sancta Sophia, chap. vi. The whole chapter, ' How God com- 
municates Internal Light,' is well worth a careful perusal, as 
also is the following chapter, * How to obtain Light in Doubtful 
Cases,' in which we meet with the following remarks bearing on 
the present subject. ' Now there are two ordinary ways by which 
God intimates His will to His servants, that with humble and 
resigned prayers address themselves unto Him. The first is by 
clearing of the understanding, thereto adding a supernatural 
light, by which natural reason comes to see something that it 
saw not before, or at least did not esteem before so consider- 
able. For, by this new light of supernatural discretion, such 
obscurities as did before hinder reason from discerning truth 
are removed. . . . The second way by which God doth imme- 
diately signify His wiU to the intellective soul in virtue of 
prayer, is by imprinting a blind, reasonless motion into the 
superior will, giving it a weight and propcnsion to one side of 
the doubt rather than to the other, without representing actu- 
ally and at the present to the understanding any special motive 
or reason to determine the will.' 



192 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

siilts. But to insure the continuance of such favours, 
gratitude and an affectionate return on our part are, as 
we need scarcely observe, essential conditions. Ac- 
cordingly, Anna Maria, besides hearkening internally for 
her angel's voice, which such habitual listening, apart 
from all special and supernatural cases, tends to ren- 
der clearer and clearer, took care also to thank him 
gratefully and affectionately for the assistance he gave 
her. 

One of the devotions most remarkable in Anna 
Maria was her tender love and solicitude for the relief 
of the suffering souls in Purgatory. This devotion 
came to her with the force of a threefold appeal : First, 
because to help the souls in Purgatory ranks among the 
highest acts, if it be not itself, as some hold, the very 
highest act, of mercy. ISTow the tenderness and de- 
votedness of Anna Maria's charity shone, one may say, 
like some choice brilliant amongst her other splendid 
virtues. In the second place, she was specially called 
to intercede for the whole Church, as we shall more 
abundantly see when we come to speak of the mysterious 
sun ; and this being so, how should not that province 
of the Church, so dear to Jesus and to Mary, peopled 
with souls confirmed in the grace and in the love of 
God, yet suffering untold torments by their separation 
from Him, and unable to help themselves, have had a 
large share in her intercessory prayer ? In the third 
place, her vocation was to be a victim of expiation, and 
in this capacity she was to be continually offering her- 
self to pay the debts of others. Hence the incapability 
of performing the least meritorious act of their owmgave 
the holy souls in Purgatory a peculiar claim upon her 
charity. The prayers which she offered, and the pe- 
nances and expiatory works which she performed for 



HER CHARITY TO THE SOULS IN PURGATORY. 193 

their relief, were unceasing, and, as Cardin^Ll Pedicini 
forcibly remarks, * to effect their deliverance Anna 
Maria doomed herself to a continual Purgatory/ She 
often followed the Way of the Cross for them in the 
Cemetery of the Santo Spirito and in that of St. John 
Lateran, knowing, as we have already said, that this 
exercise was specially pleasing to our Lord. For this 
reason she constantly resorted to it, as in all her own 
greatest needs, spiritual and temporal, so also in behalf 
of these His suffering spouses; and onr Lord often per- 
mitted the souls that had been freed through her as- 
sistance to come and thank her before taking their 
flight to Heaven. One instance in particular is re- 
corded, v/hen she was purposing to receive Communion 
at St. John Lateran's for a departed soul. During the 
first Mass, which was said by her own confessor, she 
suffered much both in body and soul ; nevertheless she 
did not cease praying, offering what she endured to the 
Divine Justice. Mgr. Pedicini said a second Mass, 
and when he began the * Gloria' Anna Maria felt her- 
self inundated with a flood of joy, and the soul, which 
just at that moment had been released from Purgatory, 
approached and said, *I thank you, my good sister, for 
your charity. I will remember you before the throne 
of God in Heaven, where, thanks to your prayers, I am 
going to be happy for all eternity.* One of her daughters 
was in the habit of accompanying Anna Maria when 
she went to the Cemetery of San Spirito to pray for the" 
dead. She says in her deposition that these visits would 
be made for forty consecutive days, and in all weathers, 
yet always barefoot, in spite of rain or mud. She would 
say three Requiems and a prayer on each of the three 
hundred tombs. * While my mother was praying,' she 
says, ^ I used to walk about the cemetery, perform the 

() 



194 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

Way of the Cross, and then go and wait for her in the 
Chapel of the Eosary.' 

Anna Maria used strongly to nrge others to be de- 
vout to the souls in Purgatory, particularly the souls of 
priests, and to have Masses offered for them. * Ac- 
custom yourself,' she would say to her spiritual chil- 
dren, ^ to recite a hundred Eequiems for them daily ; 
and in assisting at holy Mass, offer it in their behalf. 
This devotion will preserve both you and your families 
from many misfortunes.' She herself, in saying her hun 
dred Eequiems, was accustomed to add two prayers. 
After the first fifty she would say, ' holy Wounds of 
my Lord, which from love have given forth so much 
blood, have pity on the souls in Purgatory, and on me, 
a poor sinner.' After the second fifty she said, * Holy 
souls, who from this world have passed into Purgatory, 
and whom the blessed in Paradise are expecting, you 
will ask graces for me when you appear before God.' 

We may remark in conclusion that Anna Maria's 
great devotion to the souls in Purgatory, whose relief 
by her own penitential exercises and sufferings was to 
form part of her special mission, had doubtless acted as 
an attraction in drawing her towards the Trinitarians. 
Por that Order, which was instituted for the redemp- 
tion of captives suffering bondage on earth from the 
cruelty of man, had always taken a peculiar interest 
likewise in those prisoners of divine justice detained 
amongst purgatorial flames until they have paid the last 
farthing. The Trinitarians, in fact, have, as P. Calixte 
observes, never omitted to labour efficaciously for the 
souls in Purgatory, their rule even obliging each mem- 
ber to pray for the dead several times in the course of 
the day ; and indeed the devotion has received among 
them a still greater development in modern times. 



195 

CHAPTER XIII. 

ANNA MARIA A VICTIM OF EXPIATION. 

Anna Maria lived at one of those critical epoclis 
in the world's history of which the present through 
which we are passing offers another similar phase : 
times of disorder and confusion, of blasphemy, of re- 
volt against God, persecution of His Church, and of 
her august head, denial of Christian principles, and the 
substitution of such as are false and ungodly, which 
issued, as we see them issuing also in our day, in the 
disregard of all justice and right, in the contempt of 
lawful authority and in the worship of brute force, 
as also in the destruction of morality, public and pri- 
vate, threatening thus the utter dissolution of human 
society. True, the contest between good and evil, be- 
tween the Church and the world, never ceases ; but 
at periods like these it assumes a more terrible cha- 
racter, when the flood-gates of wickedness seem to be 
thrown open, and the nations deluged with impiety. 
At such times the Church is exposed to trials so 
fearful, and passes through an ordeal so appalling, 
that, to look at things under a mere human aspect, it 
would appear as if her overthrow were inevitable. It 
is from this point of view that her enemies regard 
her, and thus, in these days of rebuke, they begin to 
sing insulting paeans over her destruction. But the 
(yhurch has her Lord's promise of victory, and she 
must prevail and triumph in the end ; meanwhile He 
provides her wdth defensive weapons of the potency 
of which her foes know nothing, and which even many 
Catholics whoso faith is weakened by the surrounding 
worldly atmosphere which they imbibe, do not sudici- 



196 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

ently value. The arm of flesh and a worldly policy are 
patent and intelligible things, but the weapons of the 
Church are, not carnal, but s^Diritual. They seem to 
the eyes of men altogether out of proportion with the 
greatness of the struggle which is going forward— not 
only inadequate but utterly vain and powerless for 
efi'ecting their purpose. Just as if one had gone and 
proclaimed to the hosts of Madian and Amalec, who 
* lay. in the valley as a multitude of locusts'* for their 
number, that Gedeon with his three hundred men, each 
with a trumpet in one hand and a pitcher containing a 
lamp in the other, would utterly discomfit their whole 
host, and that they should fall by each others' swords, 
those men would have scoffed at such an announce- 
ment as the raving of a madman, so it is ever with the 
world. Although it has a secret presentiment of ulti- 
mate defeat, as had the inhabitants of proud and popu- 
lous Canaan when they heard of the approach of the 
Israelites, and dread of the God-protected ^^eople fell 
upon them, nevertheless this presentiment serves only 
to embitter its animosity and does not diminish one 
whit the supreme scorn with which it regards the 
soldiers of the Church, armed only with the folly of 
the Cross, and combating only with patience in the 
support of injuries, with prayer and with sufferings. 
No wonder the world should mock at these defences, 
which in its eyes are but symbols of weakness. ' Let - 
Him come down from the Cross, and we will believe 
Him,' cried the Jews, but Christ continued to hang 
upon the Cross, and triumphed there and thereby; and 
the Church triumphs after His pattern. The world, it 
is true, feels that a strength lies hidden somewhere, 
which, as a rock of adamant, is resisting all its efforts, yet 
* Judges yii. 12. 



A VICTIM OP EXPIATION. 197 

it suspects not wherein this strength consists, and refers 
it to everything, real or imaginary, which it conceives 
of the Church rather than to its true supernatural source. 
God has chosen the weak things of the world to 
confound the strong, in order that no flesh may glory- 
in His sight, and that the victory may be acknowledged 
to come from Him alone. He Himself is the strength 
of His Church ; she knows that He is so, and in her 
need has recourse to the omnipotent weapons which He 
has placed in her hands. Moreover, in times of spe- 
cial trial He is used to send special graces of inter- 
cession to souls unknown to the world or, if known, 
despised by it. These souls are called to be the chief 
instruments in the supernatural work which God is 
carrying on in His Church. Others may seem more 
actively engaged in the strife, and to be doing more 
efi'ectual battle for God's cause, like the Israelites fight- 
ing hand to hand with Amalec in the plain ; but, even 
as it was Moses's upraised arms on the mount which 
were bringing victory to the host below, and, when he 
lowered them, not all their valour could enable them to 
stand against the enemy, so is it in the Church militant : 
the victory is mainly due to those who are lifting up 
their hands to God in prayer on the mount of perfec- 
tion. Again, days of trial to the Church are also days 
of great offence against God, such as Avould call down 
upon a guilty world the most terrible scourges of His 
wrath if His vengeance were not stayed. I^ow these 
chosen souls generously present themselves as victims 
to receive in their own persons the chastisements due 
to God's offended justice : sickness, sufferings, and 
every manner of tribulation ; and God accepts a sacri- 
fice which lie Himself in His ingenious mercy has 
inspired them to make. 



198 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

Sucli was the mission of Anna IMaria TaigL She 
was not left in ignorance of her calling, even in the 
very first days of her conversion, as we have seen; and 
npon the occasion of her assuming the habit of the 
Trinitarians she had an interior revelation of a very 
peculiar character, to which some allusion has already 
been made. After Communion she heard a voice which 
said these words to her : * My beloved daughter, ap- 
proach, and I will make thee experience My sweetness, 
and how pleasing to Me are those who love Me. Tell 
thy spiritual father that I choose thee this day to go 
forth into the world to convert souls and to console 
persons of all ranks : priests, religious, nuns, prelates, 
cardinals, and even My Yicar ; and thou wilt have to 
contend against a host of weak creatures subject to 
many passions. To all those who shall hearken to thy 
words with a sincere and generous heart, and shall put 
them in practice, I will grant signal graces ; and they 
shall eujoy happiness in the depths of their hearts. 
Listen also, My daughter, to this : Thou shalt meet 
with many false and perfidious souls ; thou shalt be 
turned into derision, insulted, despised, calumniated; 
but thou shalt bear all for the love of Me, and I assure 
thee, great God as I am, that thy persecutors shall 
render an account to Me of such conduct, and I will 
punish them either in this world or in the other.' So 
fully was this promise accomplished, that even the 
slightest contempt shown to the servant of God never 
went without chastisement ; and her spiritual sons all 
bore witness to the remarkable fact, that if they so 
much as interpreted disadvantageously any simple ac- 
tion of hers, they were sure to pay dear for it in the 
course of the day. 

AYhen the ecstasy in which Anna Maria heard these 



A VICTIM O^ EXPIATION. 199 

words was passed, slie said to her Divine Spouse, * Great 
God, whom dost Thou choose for such a v/ork ? I am 
a miserable creature, unworthy to tread the earth.' So 
deep was her humility and her sense of her own no- 
thingness, that she began to pour forth her soul in 
tears and sighs before her Lord, when the voice again 
addressed her. ' My beloved daughter,' it said, ' such 
is My will. I will guide thee Myself by the hand, like 
a lamb, and all that I have said will be verified. Its 
accomplishment will be one day manifest.' Eeassured 
by the Saviour's voice, and the sweet words He spoke 
to her, Anna Maria now renewed and ratified her pre- 
vious acts of self-oblation, again devoting herself with- 
out reserve to endure every species of suffering, that all 
men might come to know and love their God. How 
pleasing to the Lord were these sacrifices is proved by 
various locutions with which she was favoured in these 
early times, and by the spiritual delights with which 
He inebriated her soul. It seemed also as if God 
could absolutely refuse her nothing, and He Himself 
was pleased to confirm this stupendous idea by what 
He said to her on more than one occasion : namely, 
that as He could deny her nothing which she asked, 
and as on the other hand the ingratitude of men was so 
great that He was resolved to chastise them, He would 
take away from her the fervour of prayer, and set her 
soul as it were to sleep/"* Anna Maria no sooner heard 

* This divine incapability, if we may use such a term, of 
resisting the prayer of His faithful servants is indicated in 
several passages of the Old Testament, and especially where 
God uses those remarkable expressions : * Let Me alone, that I 
may destroy them' (Deut. ix. 14), when speaking to His ser- 
vant Moses, as if prayer constrained the very liberty of tho 
Almighty; and again when bidding Jeremias (viL 16) not to 
pray for the people. 



200 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

this announcement than she set herself with redonbled 
courage and generosity to obtain the gTaces which she 
might later he precluded from soliciting, and especially 
the conversion of the world and the salvation of sinners. 

We have already, when speaking of the mortifica- 
tions of the servant of God, alluded to her acts of self- 
denial as regarded spiritual sweetnesses and consola- 
tions : how she tore herself away even from the foot of 
the altar and the happiness she was enjoying through the 
close union of her soul with God in prayer, lest self 
should be seeking some secret gratification. But here 
it may be well for us to pause a moment to con- 
sider this question of the refusal of spiritual consola- 
tions and sweetnesses. Is such refusal proposed for 
general imitation 1 Of course there is such a thing as 
spiritual greediness ; and, short of such a fault as may 
deserve this name, there is always danger lest the soul, 
when receiving an abundance of consolations, should 
rest in them too much. On this point all are agreed, 
and that we cannot be too watchful in order to guard 
ourselves from the possibility of delusion. Eut this is 
not the question. The question is whether it is in every 
individual an act of more perfect virtue to refuse sweet- 
nesses and consolations than to accept them. Would 
all do well, when favoured with them, like Anna Maria, 
to shorten their period of prayer 1 Passages certainly 
may be often met with in spiritual writers which seem 
to recommend the practice of always drawing back 
when God extends His Hand to give, while others seem 
to speak of such sweetnesses almost in an undervaluing 
tone, regarding them as sugar-plums given to children 
— an opinion which Eather Faber, whom we are about 
to quote, qualifies as ' strange.' 

This eminent writer tells us that these spiritual 



A VICTIM OF EXPIATION. 201 

favours are sent to perform a great work in our souls, 
and to make work easy to us which otherwise we should 
not have the strength to accomplish. So far, then, 
from its being advisable to refuse them, it is even right 
and desirable to pray for them.'^* ' Well,' he observes, 
' may Alvarez de Paz say, " they err, then, who do not 
magnify this spiritual sweetness, and do not thirst for 
it in prayer, and are not saddened if it withdraws. 
They show that they have never learned by experience 
its manifold utility. For if they had once tasted it, 
and seen how by its impulse they rather ran than 
walked, yea, and even flew to perfection, they would 
indeed have esteemed that to be precious which brings 
with it so great an increase of virtues and purity. . . . 
It is not the sign of a soft-living man, and an effemi- 
nate heart or over-delicate spirit, to sigh after this 
sweetness ; but it is the work of a wise and strong 
man, who, recognising his inborn infirmity, desires that 
which will enable him to run to God with more speed 
and with greater agility, and to do greater and more 
heroic deeds. He whose judgment is otherwise neither 
knows himself, nor has any ardent desire after perfec- 
tion, nor comprehends the true and solid riches of this 
sweetness." ' 

In farther confirmation of this view. Father Faber 
also quotes Da Ponte and St. Teresa. IS'evertheless, as 
he says, we m.ust not run into the other extreme on the 
subject of these sweetnesses and consolations. For it 
is undeniable that saints have spoken of the way of 

* It need scarcely be observed that Father Faber is not 
alhidinp: to favours of a different and extraordinary order often 
vouchsafed to the Saints. To pray for or to aspire to these 
wouhl be presumption, as he clearly states, and therefore he 
expressly excludes them from his consideration Avhen entering 
on the subject of spiiitual favours. 



202 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

pure faith and the absence of sensible consolations as 
the best road to the summit of the mount of perfection, 
and St. John of the Cross opines that it is the only one 
that leads to the topmost peak of his Carmel. The 
saint allows, however, that there is another road which 
leads upward, on which he writes the words, ' Science, 
Counsel, Sweetness, Security, Glory :' from all which 
the obvious conclusion we are led to draw is ' that the 
highest perfection is in the renunciation of these gifts, 
but that there is also a perfection which seeks them, 
and a perfection, too, by which the tops of Carmel may 
be scaled.'* Here, then, we think is a practical answer 
to the question asked. Granted that the refusal of 
spiritual consolations is the most excellent way, it is 
evident that it is only the most excellent and the high- 
est to those who are called to choose it. All are not 
called to scale the very topmost peak of Carmel, nor 
would they attain any nearer to it, but the reverse, by 
declining the help needful to carry them to the height 
which is their allotted spiritual goal. In the absence, 
therefore, of an express movement of the Holy Spirit, 
it seems Avell thankfully to accept, and even ardently 
to desire, the aid and consolation which God is willing 
to afford us. He Himself is pleased often to withdraw 
this help for the soul's probation and purification, but 
to seek and desire and offer ourselves to such abandon- 
ments cannot be safely or prudently done of our own 
impulse and choice. 

The whole resolves itself, in short, into the question 
of our vocation. Holy souls which have voluntarily 
embraced austerities appalling to flesh and blood and 
offered themselves to spiritual derelictions, even to that 

* See a very valuable chapter on the ' Right Use of Spiritual 
Favours' in Father Faber's Growth in Holiness^ 



A VICTIM OF EXPIATION. 203 

of dying alone, abandoned, and without the sacraments, 
have done so from an inspiration of the Holy Ghost. 
In one sense, therefore, it was not their own voluntary 
election, inasmuch as it was not done from the spon- 
taneous choice of their own will, although by freely 
accepting what the Holy Ghost suggested, without com- 
manding, they had the merit of an heroic voluntary act. 
Yet to these exalted souls the promptings of the Holy 
Spirit, to whom they have yielded themselves as docile 
instruments, come inwardly as a kind of Providential 
law, just as the events and contingencies of outward 
life are a Providential law to other men. The decrees 
of Providence subject us all, whether we will or no, to 
sorrows, pains, privations, and other trials ; and it is in 
the power of every devout Christian, by a willing and 
joyful acceptance of sufferings as they arise, to convert 
them into so many voluntary acts of penance and self- 
sacrifice : this is a deeply consoling reflection. Thus at 
each step of his way, he accepts his vocation and says, 
* Lord, I come to do Thy will,' after the pattern of his 
Divine Head. In the notes preparatory to a work 
which Father Faber unhappily did not live to write, 
we find the following among the considerations sug- 
gested on the doctrine of the Passion : ^ It is remark- 
able that our Lord's satisfactions were not in voluntary 
penances, but in things which came on Him through 
His Father's will — this is a characteristic of His sanc- 
tity — the consolation of it to us.'* 

To return to Anna Maria. She felt that her abode 
was not to be on Tabor. ' I have a baptism wherewith 
I am to be baptised,' said our Divine Kedeemer ; ' and 
how am I straitened until it be accomplished Tt To 

* Notes on Doctrinal and Spiritual Subjects^ vol. i. p. 192. 
t Luke xii. 50. 



204 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

chosen souls, called, like Anna IMaria, to a special life 
of self-sacrifice. He often imparts a participation in this 
supernatural thirst for His Passion, to which He desires 
to associate them. An interior magnet accordingly 
drew her constantly to Calvary, and to a life of expia- 
tion, internal as well as external; and she again and 
again offered to her Heavenly Spouse the sacrifice of 
her spiritual consolations, generously renouncing them 
in order to diminish the evils in the world and in the 
Church, through the acceptance of every kind of suffer- 
ing. Seeing that her sacrifice was not accepted, she 
strove to supply by her own external penances. J^ever- 
theless she continued to persevere in the magnanimous 
offer she had so often made, and which, indeed, she 
was continually making by the preparation and atti- 
tude of her soul ; for this offer Avas not the mere out- 
burst of fervour, however frequent ; it was a never- 
ceasing tendency of her heart producing an abiding 
oblation of self as its fruit. * God,' says Cardinal Pedi- 
cini, ' satisfying at last her ardent desire, was pleased 
to accept the offerings of her generous heart. After 
the lapse of several years the heavenly consolations 
vanished like lightning, and left in their place dryness, 
suffering, toil. To the tears of compunction succeeded 
the most afflicting aridity ; to celestial joys, torment j 
to sweetness, sadness ; to tender devotion, the most 
overwhelming weariness. Her soul passed rapidly from 
noontide splendours to the shades of night ; from the 
heavenly cabinet, the most brilliant court, she was pre- 
cipitated into the darkest prison. She was expelled 
from delicious gardens, and cast upon the most barren 
and desert sands. It is true that God did not deprive 
her of the other heavenly gifts, but they only served to 
increase her martyrdom, as they also served to increase 



A VICTIM OF EXPIATION. 205 

her merits, "because tlie knowledge of the perfections of 
the object of her love augmented her grief at being de- 
prived of it and her fear of losing it/ 

To this privation, in itself so real a martyrdom to 
one who has tasted of the choicest favours of God, were 
added temptations of the devil, persecutions, calumnies, 
insults, to some of which we have alluded and which 
are to be referred chiefly to this season. It was then 
also that she began to suffer more peculiarly from the 
unpleasant tempers of different members of her family, 
whose jars and dissensions were continually exercising 
her patience, and which she was so often occupied in 
the ungrateful task of calming, as we have related. 
Then also her own bodily ailments were greatly aggra- 
vated and became well-nigh incessant, while it was 
during the same period that the poverty and straits of 
the family were, from the circumstances of those un- 
happy times, much increased. ^ She lived through long 
years,' says the Cardinal, ^ with this accompanying train 
of sufferings, save during rare moments when it pleased 
our Lord to give her some flashing gleams of divine con- 
solation, without which she could not have borne up 
under the struggle.' He tells us also that her pains 
continually increased up to her very last moments; for, 
as Ave shall find, the hour of death formed no exception 
to this unsparing rule ; and even in that supreme hour 
of her life her assimilation to the Passion of Jesus was 
as complete as it had been ever since He had begun to 
make her partake of His chalice. 

We have the following description, from the pen of 
the Cardinal, of some of her spiritual sufferings and of 
her behaviour under them. ' Wlio could describe,' he 
says, * the terrible nights which she passed alone in her 
little room ? In prayer she met only with the most de- 



206 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

solating aridity. Althoiigli turned towards heaven for 
hours, sighing after her Beloved, seeking Him on all 
sides and everywhere, that He might console her heart 
and fdl its void, the heavens were as bronze to her. 
Tears might have served to soften her painful exile, but 
tears were denied her ; and she was fain to resign her- 
self to the Divine Will, drinking by slow draughts the 
chalice of sharpest bitterness without either alleviation 
or support. How were it possible to reckon up the as- 
saults of the infernal spirits, who tempted her under the 
most seductive forms and by the most humiliating sug- 
gestions ! Terrified by these temptations, she opposed 
to them the buckler of patience and prayer, although 
she did this without any sentiment of compunction, 
with difficulty formulating prayer in the depth of her 
heart, where she humbled herself before God. How 
relate all the dolorous exclamations she made to her 
God, whom she desired more and more ardently to 
possess ! It seemed as if every creature were saying to 
her, " Uhi est Deus tuus .?— Where is thy God ?" Her 
heart being unable to find the satisfaction Avhich it de- 
sired, the devils endeavoured to excite it to anger and 
hatred of God; and so powerful were these assaults that 
she could not repress them without enduring mortal 
agonies.' It is difficult so much as to form a concep- 
tion of the dreadful nature of this trial. It seems a 
kind of figure of what reprobate souls are described as 
enduring in Hell, where they know God to be the 
supreme good, Avhile they are themselves eternally de- 
barred from attaining it. Indeed she herself told Car- 
dinal Pedicini that she felt as if she were in a corner of 
HeU. 

The violence of these frightful trials not only greatly 
aggravated the maladies which already afflicted her, bat 



A VICTIM OF EXPIATION. 207 

was the occasion of fresh bodily aihnents, which tor- 
mented her until death. During all this period of her 
desolations, Anna Maria nevertheless faithfully allotted 
the same time to her preparation for Communion and 
to her thanksgiving after it. ^ Formerly/ says the Car- 
dinal, ^ she remained immovable because divine conso- 
lations inundated her soul; during her trials she strove 
to remain firm and intrepid in her interior martyrdom. 
Human nature suffered much ; the devils besides used 
all their efforts to distract and torment her, but, with- 
out dwelling either on her mental pains or on her bodily 
sufferings, she continued motionless as a statue in the 
presence of her God whenever she went to the church 
in order to communicate or to visit the Blessed Sacra- 
ment, as well as when performing her domestic devo- 
tions.' What this effort must have cost her is proved 
by what he adds, that ' after whole hours of immobility 
she would be all bathed in a most painful perspiration.' 
She persevered with constancy in her accustomed exer- 
cises ; she even multiplied her acts of piety and morti- 
fication with a courage truly heroic amidst her trials 
and anguish of soul, and in spite of an unspeakable 
weariness, inward agitation, and repugnance of the 
senses which was the chief cause of the extraordinary 
cold perspiration, like that of death, to which tlie Car- 
dinal alludes. 

Unable to gain the smallest advantage over her, the 
spirits of evil, who, from their confirmed opposition to 
God, delight in mischief for its own sake, and who hate 
with peculiar bitterness the souls which have given 
themselves wholly to Him and devoted themselves to 
the salvation of sinners, revenged themselves upon her 
by tormenting her in every possible way, either them- 
selves appearing to her in visible and horrible shapes or 



208 V. AXXA MARIA TATGI. 

employing the instrumentality of creatures. It is re- 
lated ill particular how in the summer they would send 
swarms of flies and other insects to assail her, which 
-would enter eyes, nose, ears, hoping perhaps thereby to 
cause a momentary distraction or movement of impati- 
ence, or, failing this, at least to afflict and plague. 
Again, in winter they would cause a great accession of 
the pain wdiich she habitually endured at that season, 
from rheumatism, asthma, chilblains, and numerous 
other complaints. The very number and variety of her 
sufferings is, indeed, one of the most striking features 
of her trial. !N'o part of her seemed to be free from 
the crucifixion of soul and body to which she was sub- 
jected. 

' It is true,' says the Cardinal, ^ that her Heavenly 
Spouse would aid her from time to time, and the voice 
of God encourage her for a moment, in order that she 
might continue her march along the dolorous way of 
Calvary; but these heavenly consolations, which dis- 
appeared like lightning, only increased the longing of 
her lieart continually to possess her Infinite Good. A 
mouthful of bread cast to a flimished dog sharpens in- 
stead of satisfying his hunger; besides, there is no 
possible comparison between the natural instinct and 
that devouring hunger which a soul w^ounded with 
divine love experiences for its God. True, she con- 
tinually had celestial locutions, particularly at the time 
of Communion, but, instead of the spiritual delights 
which heretofore she used to enjoy, she was rapt in the 
most painful contemplations, by means of which God 
discovered to her the evils of the world, the scourges 
prepared, the sins of the people, especially those of 
ecclesiastics, &c. This is why the locutions and rap- 
tures brought no solace to her heart ; on the contrary, 



A VICTIM OF EXPIATION. 209 

charity urged her to renev/ her prayers to the Lord that 
He would suspend His wrath and His just vengeance, 
and to reiterate her acts of self-oblation; and then God, 
accepting the offer, avenged upon her the claims of His 
justice.' 

Amongst the other sufferings and trials which Anna 
Maria underwent, and which were to her most excru- 
ciating, were temptations against faith, on the part both 
of men and of devils. We have seen in what a sublime 
and heroic degree she possessed this virtue : to hear a 
word spoken against any truth of the faith was unut- 
terably painful to her, so that what she endured in this 
way can only be compared to being scorched with a hot 
iron. She was often brought into contact with hardened 
sinners whom she had undertaken the task of convert- 
ing, and the devil would instigate these miserable men 
to broach maxims contrary to faith and morals, sug- 
gesting to their minds the most specious arguments 
which had been ever framed by the subtle intellects of 
heresiarchs. Three individuals in particular thus exer- 
cised the faith and patience of the servant of God. One 
was a priest, who, having travelled much, and made a 
prolonged residence in Protestant countries and at 
several foreign courts, had become corrupted in his 
faith, though not in his morals. She ultimately ob- 
tained this man's conversion, who made a retreat in a 
convent, and died soon after. The second was a lay- 
man with whom she had been acquainted for many 
years. He vs^as a good-hearted man, and tolerably, 
though not thoroughly, well-conducted. The devil took 
occasion to tempt this indifferent Christian when as- 
sailed by temporal troubles. Among men of his stamp 
some are drawn to God by woddly disappointments, 
others seem thrust farther oil' from Him; they quarrel 

p 



210 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGT. 

with God and His Providence, and are easily led to 
arraign His justice ^vhen He no longer ministers to their 
earthly comfort and prosperity. So it was with this, 
unhappy man : he cast off his faith altogether, and^ 
having done so, he hated it. He hecame a heretic and 
a blasphemer. Nevertheless, Anna Maria did not cast 
him off, although, when he came to see her, he would 
utter the most fearful impieties, and propound heresies 
black enough, as the confessor expresses it, ' to eclipse 
the sun ;' and then he would go into paroxyms of rage> 
testifying thus to the appalling dominion which Satan 
had obtained over him. It is difficult to imagine what 
attraction drew him to the house and to the company 
of a pious woman such as Anna Maria ; but, whatever 
it might be, God was overruling it for the wretched 
man's salvation. Eor more than twenty years he con- 
tinued thus to try her forbearance and her charity. 
These never failed her ; she gave him good advice, ex- 
horted him kindly to patience, and, through the in- 
fluence she had obtained over him, often held him back 
when he was on the very edge of the precipice, and 
strongly urged by Satan to commit suicide. The miser- 
able man used to come and hold long conferences with 
her, which lasted nearly to the close of her life, and 
therefore mostly took place when she was suffering 
under cruel bodily tortures and spiritual trials ; never- 
theless, she would never send him away when he came. 

* For the love of God and of souls,' says her confessor, 

* she had constituted herself their slave, and had off'ered 
herself under that title to her Divine Spouse.' And 
God at last accepted her sacrifice in behalf of this in- 
veterate sinner against His grace. He was converted ; 
and at the time P. Pilippo wrote, he was still leading 
a good and Christian life. 



A VICTIM OF EXPIATION. 211 

The third individual who severely tried this holy 
woman was a young man who, in spite of the good 
Christian education he had received, had led a scanda- 
lous life from his earliest years. He filled some high 
situations under the French Government, but ruined 
his fortunes by his luxurious and profligate living. 
When the Pontifical Government was restored, affairs 
took him to Kome : the servant of God had already 
been praying for his conversion, as she told the person 
who brought him to her. In the midst of all his cor- 
ruption, and in spite of the hardening efl'ect of sensual 
indulgence, this young man had preserved one soft spot 
in his heart : he had a tender charity for the poor. 
This at least was a hopeful sign. Yet he seemed imper- 
vious alike to the representations of those who laboured 
to bring him back to God and to the shafts of divine 
grace ; for many signal mercies were vouchsafed to him. 
That holy man, Mgr. Strambi, spared no exertions to 
move him to repentance, but at last even this saintly 
prelate was discouraged : he lost all hope, and to one 
who would have persuaded him to make some fresh 
attempt, he replied that this young man was already in 
the power of the devil, and quite abandoned by Provi- 
dence ; and so indeed it seemed, for he no longer so 
much as believed in the existence of God, and was 
leading a very dissolute life. He belonged, besides, 
to the secret sect of the Carbonari, and we well know 
what hold Satan obtains over those who have bound 
themselves by Masonic oaths. Anna Maria foresaw 
that if he persevered in his evil courses he would in 
the end be condemned to death and executed. Never- 
theless, her prayers and penances were destined to ob- 
tain his conversion ; divine grace seizing him, as she 
expressed it, by the hair of his head. * The fox changes 



212 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

his skin,' she said, ' witliout quitting his vices ; by a 
triumph of divine mercy, which has already decreed to 
ssixe this man, he will be struck down with a long ill- 
ness, at the end of which he will be converted ; but he 
will lose consciousness as soon as he has made his con- 
fession, and will not be able to receive Communion : 
otherwise the devils would send him temptations under 
which he would succumb.' All this was literally ac- 
compKshed three years later. ' I informed myseK of 
the circumstances of his death,' says Xatali, ' from his 
family and from his confessor, the Canon Ambrogio 
Campano of Macerata, who, when he was at Eome, 
assured me that all the details given by the servant of 
God were verified.' 

But how dear had this grace cost her ! Xot to 
speak of the severe fasts, penances, and a series of de- 
votions, such as we have ah^ady described, amongst 
which must be reckoned the frequent ascent on her 
knees of (he Scala Santa, which she at once undertook 
in his behalf, nor of the additional bodily sufferings 
then laid upon her, or of a thousand persecutions of 
which she became the object, what she endured on the 
part of the devils and of their miserable slave was alone 
most appalling. There was, indeed, a heavy price to pay 
for this soul, and God exercised the outraged rights of 
His justice upon her, as he apprised her in several 
locutions with reference to this conversion. The very 
first day this man set foot in Anna Maria's dwelling 
Hell seemed moved to its centre; and, dreading the 
escape of their victim, the infernal spirits, after over- 
whelming her with abuse, endeavoured during the night 
to strangle her. Their impotent rage was also directed 
against the priest who iiad introduced him to her, and 
who passed that night in mortal terrors, his ears being 



A VICTIM OF EXPIATION. 213 

assailed by the most friglitful diabolical noises. Anna 
Maria, besides ceaselessly offering prayers and penances 
for this sinner, used every argument in her power to 
turn him to God. The evil one then suggested to the 
wretched man the idea of perverting the faith and even 
corrupting the morals of his benefactress ; but not all 
his malice and ingratitude could weary her patience or 
quench the charity which had its source in the love of 
Ilim who prayed for His murderers on the Cross. The 
conversion of this notorious and obstinate sinner must, 
without doubt, be regarded as one of the most signal 
recorded instances of God's mercy, and also as one of 
the most remarkable proofs of the power of intercessory 
prayer. That we have good reason for this conclusion 
appears from our Lord having Himself told the servant 
of God that He wished all the world to know of the 
conversion of this famous Carbonaro. 

Her faith was also violently assailed by the devils 
during the time of great interior pains, when her soul 
was left without conscious support or aid, without sen- 
sible love of God, and apparently adhering to Him only 
by a dry act of the will. These spirits of darkness 
would cry aloud in her ears, taunting and ridiculing 
her for believing that there was any judgment to come, 
any hell for sinners, or that the Son of God had died 
upon a cross for men ; telling her that it was only 
silly women and the ignorant common people who really 
believed such things, with more of the same nature, 
couched in the most artful and insidious language. 
Anna Maria never answered them, but cast herself on 
God, imploring His grace, and making firm protesta- 
tions of her faith and love. The enemy, seeing that 
he gained nothing in this way, then betook liimselT to 
addressing her under some assumed visible form ; at 



2H V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

one time under that of a venerable Eeligious, at another 
of the head of an Order, or some prelate. Availing 
himself of this respectable disguise, he would give bad 
advice, recommend her to abandon her mode of life, 
and proceed to put forward evil maxims supported by 
the most captious reasoning. Then, throwing off all 
reserv^e, he would begin to assail some of the most vital 
articles of the faith.* * I have often seen her weep,' 
said D. Eaffaele Xatali, ' on account of the violence of 
these temptations and her dread of succumbing to 
them.' 

But the devils did not confine themselves to artful 
and dangerous solicitations ; they endeavoured at other 
times to intimidate and subdue her by ill-treatment, 
and thus weary out her courage and resistance. They 
often scared her by horrible noctiu-nal apparitions, and 
dealt her most tenible blows ; and then, despairing of 
obtaining the victory over her, they endeavoured more 
than once (as before related) to kill her, because they 
saw that all who fell into her hands were lost to them. 
Alone at night, in her room, for Domenico (as has been 

* Sister Maria Crocefissa. a Franciscan nun, who passed 
tkrougli a most tenible ordeal of passive mystical pm-gation, 
suffered much in the same wav. ' A devil in the foim of an 
angel suggested to her the most perfidious heresies that were 
ever promulgated by the sectaries, and, internally instigating 
her to give consent to them, set before her the gi-ounds and 
arguments by which these innovators were in the habit of popu- 
larly accrediting theii* errors. He then singled out one by one 
all the precepts of the* Decalogue, and by the help of plausible 
and most subtle reasoning presented to her what he advanced 
in 60 ver^- striking a manner, that her director, to whom she 
reported all, was quite astonished; seeing that she could not 
have better explained these diabolical maxims if she had been 
brought up in the school of the most impious heretics, although 
she had never read such things, nor heard them spoken of.' 
Scaramelli's Direttorio Mistico, vol. ii. p. 238. 



A VICTIM OF EXPIATEON. 215 

said) often came home very late, slie would see it filled 
with filthy demons, and hear them taking counsel to- 
gether and declaring that they must make an end of 
her. Then would they all rush upon her, some clutch- 
ing her hy the throat to strangle her, others beating 
her furiously, or torturing her in divers other ways.* 
By and bye they would all vanish, and the evil one 
would re-appear to his exhausted victim under some 
beautiful human form, and strive by every manner of 
suggestion to obtain at least some momentary consent 
to sin. In these battles, Anna Maria's weapons were 
humility, patience, contrition, prayer, and the holy 
names of Jesus and Mary. Sometimes at night, the 
usual season for these infernal assaults, she endeavoured 
to turn away and distract her mind by manual work ; 
at other times, when the devils appeared to her, she 
had recourse to holy water, or, spitting in their faces, 
would turn with all her heart to God. Although her 
confidence in Him never wavered, yet on occasions she 
felt great fears for herself ; trembling and weeping she 

* The Lives of the Saints are full of similar details of what 
these servants of God suffered from the infernal spirits, while 
passing through this trial, which has heen characterised as a 
* siege,' in contradistinction to ' possession,' which is a state 
altogether different. St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi was thrown 
down-stairs hy devils more than once ; and others have been 
also precipitated from heights, or their heads dashed violently 
against walls ; or they have heen dragged along the ground 
over rough stones. But all seems little as compared with what 
Sister Maria Crocefissa was subjected to. Scaramelli observes 
that in such cases the protection which God affords these per- 
sons is clearly manifested ; ' for their heads are never fractured, 
nor are their limbs dislocated, as ought naturally to result from 
such serious falls and desperate blows, but they only feel the 
pain, with some slight remaining contusion and discolourmcnt. 
. . . And, in fact, St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi, after these pre- 
cipitate falls from the top to the bottom of long flights of steps, 
used to get up able to pursue her usual avocations.' lb. p. 233. 



216 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

would call on our Blessed Lady, the holy angels, and 
particularly St. ^lichael, whom she honoured especially 
as the protector of the holy faith and her defender 
against the evil spirits, to come to her aid. So Hvely 
was the confidence with which " she would pronounce 
the names of Jesus and Mary, that the devils were 
often put to flight thereby, and she would see them 
retreat precipitately, gnawing their fingers and foaming 
with rage. 

Before leaving this subject of the temptations which 
she endared from the evil spirits, we must record one 
which took ^^lace, we are told, on the 28th August, 
1821. It was of a peculiarly terrible kind, the devil 
repeating to her with confidence and pertinacity that 
she would not be saved ; and it is the more remarkable 
as having been the occasion of a divine locution of a 
very extraordinary character, even amongst such ex- 
traordinary communications, since it would seem to 
have amounted to an assurance of salvation. About 
five o'clock in the afternoon, while she was oppressed 
by this temptation and engaged in prayer, the Lord 
was pleased to dispel it by the following gracious 
words : ' Thou rememberest well what I told thee one 
day ; My promise has been fulfilled, and will be yet 
fulfilled. I have never granted such graces to those 
who hve out of My favour. As I am the beginning and 
the end of man, I do not thus manifest My secrets to 
those who are to make a bad end. It is true that there 
are many who having begun well have finished ill, but 
I had never given them similar illuminations. I have 
gone so far as to cause thee to know one by one the 
difterent persons whom thou wast to endure for the 
love of Me ; and wilt thou stiU say that I do not love 
thee ? Have I not made thee like to Myself uj^on the 



A VICTIM OF EXPIATION. 217 

Cross ? Instead of complaining, thou oughtest to re- 
joice. At this point thou hast to arrive, . . . and soon 
afterwards thou shalt come to be happy with Me.' And 
in fact, although Anna Maria's sufferings never ceased, 
she attained at the close of her life to a state of peace- 
ful union with God and to a tranquillity of mind which 
nothing could interrupt or disturb. 

We have already, when speaking of her patience, 
sufficiently alluded to her bodily sufferings of a natural 
kind, some of which took their rise, while others w^ere 
severely aggravated, after her entry on the life of ex- 
piation. As each sense seemed to enjoy some super- 
natural gift or endowment, so each seemed subjected 
to the fiery purification of maladies ; for, no doubt, the 
pains, both external and internal, which she had gener- 
ously taken upon herself in the spirit of sacrifice, all 
served to accomplish a double object, and helped on the 
"work of her sanctification while they were paying the 
debts of others and impetrating grace for sinners. With 
the exception of those saints who have completed their 
course briefly, and have been gathered like flowers in 
their early bloom, or those who have won their crowns 
by a martyrdom of blood, few of great eminence, with 
whose interior life we have become acquainted, seem 
to have been exempted from these purifying pains ; 
and, in particular, those who have been called to the 
sublimer grades of contemplation and union with God, 
and to the supernatural heights of the mystical life, 
have not attained thereto without passing through this 
night of the soul and undergoing, in a greater or lesser 
degree and for a longer or shorter season, the interior 
pains and spiritual privations which ordinarily succeed 
the first fervours. For these pains and privations liave 
a far more searching and purifying efiect than any 



21S V. AXXA MARIA TAIGI. 

penitential mortification which we may embrace of our 
own choice; not only because self cannot find any 
entrance, as in the latter case is always possible, the 
creature having here no share except that of passive 
abandonment, and blind conformity to the Divine Will, 
but because, God Himself being the operator, the puri- 
fying process extends far deeper than we ever think of 
or could succeed in applying it ourselves ; thus dislodg- 
ing seK-love from its last and most hidden recesses. 
Yet the length and severity of this trial, which may be 
called a kind of meritorious earthly Purgatory, has 
differed greatly even in saints of seemingly equal 
eminence ; some being led by this way more than 
others, for reasons known only to Him who is the 
author of both nature and grace ; and also because, as 
in Anna ^Maria's case, some have had a special mission 
of expiation and of that peculiar conformity to their 
suffering Lord which consists in being charged with 
the sins of others. 

That the sufferings of this holy woman were ex- 
ceptional for their variety, intensity, and duration, we 
may indeed infer from the testimony which our Lord 
Himself vouchsafed one day to give her for her en- 
couragement and consolation. * Thy sufferings,' He 
said, " are beyond expression ; I desire that they should 
be recorded in writing ; but, in spite of all that shall 
be read, never will any one be able to comprehend the 
torture of thy souL As for Me, I write all in letters of 
gold, and it is in Heaven alone that the greatness of 
thy suffering love shall be understood ; it is there that 
it shall be rewarded, it is thej*e that the patience of thy 
long and voluntary agony shall be crowned. Also have 
I more than once told thee that I have chosen thee to 
be of the number of the martyrs, and that thy life was 



HER VISION OF THE MYSTERIOUS SUN, 219 

to "be notliing but a long and painful martyrdom.' 
These assurances comforted and strengthened her soul 
and infused into it fresh ardour to make renewed obla- 
tions of herself even in the very midst of her most ex- 
cruciating pains, and when it Vv^ould have appeared 
impossible for nature, without a miracle, to endure 
more. It was the * Sitid* of the Cross. 

Eut Anna Maria was not called simply to offer her- 
self for the conversion of sinners in general, and to 
devote herself in a special way to the conversion of 
individuals whose state became known to her. Her 
vocation embraced a much wider field, as we have al- 
ready indicated ; and to this end God conferred upon 
her singular supernatural gifts, of which the most re- 
markable was the permanent vision of a sun, to which 
we have before alluded, and of which it is time now to 
speak more particularly on account of its intimate con- 
nection with her peculiar mission of expiation and in- 
tercession. 



CHAPTEE XIV. 

ANNA Maria's vision of the mysterious sun. 

It is a truth of undoubted certainty that when God 
chooses a soul for a sublime mission, He provides it 
with the means for carrying it out. The mission for 
which He had chosen this poor, obscure, and unin- 
structed woman was, so to say, a universal mission. 
' The world,' writes P. Bouffier, * was traversing one of 
those crises, deep and radical, which upon the ruins 
they are heaping up seem to be accumulating for the 
present disorders without issue and for the future in- 



220 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

terminable tempests. After a lialf-century passed amid 
the frenzies of crime and the debaucheries of science, 
those who had constituted themselves the chiefs and 
guides of the people were given up to a spirit of error 
and impiety. Apostles of a singular genus, they pro- 
fessed to preach the Gospel of a new era ; and soon, 
their desolating doctrines producing bitter fruits, men 
saw God driven from His temples,. His altars profaned, 
His sanctuaries demolished, the head of the Church 
persecuted, the priesthood degraded, decimated, all prin- 
ciples and all rights trampled under foot, and the whole 
of Europe ravaged by war and filled with blood and 
ruins. It was the hour for tears, prayer, and expia- 
tion.* It was the hour for the lovers of the Cross, souls 
inflamed with divine love, to unite themselves to the 
Passion of their Lord and complete in their persons 
His sufferings for His mystical body, the Church, even 
as the Apostle, speaking of his own tribulations, says,* 
^ who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up 
those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ 
in my flesh for His body, which is the Church.' Anna 
Maria was called to take a share in this the highest 
and most honourable work to which the creature can 
be called, and of which, through its divinisation by its 
union with the God-Man, it has been rendered capable, t 

* Col. i. 24. 

t The following passage extracted from the Preface to the 
Life of Anne Catherine Emmerich by Father Schmoeger refers 
to this mission of expiation, to a share in which the shepherdess 
of Flamske, we have every reason to believe, was called. ' God 
in all times has chosen certain souls, which, whether in a re- 
treat hidden from view, or publicly and under the eyes of the 
world, have served Kim as instruments destined to suffer and to 
combat for His Church and for the holy Catholic faith. The 
circumstances of the exterior life of these persons are sometimes 
extremely dissimilar, and their very sufferings have a character 



I 



HER VISION OF THE MYSTERIOUS SUN. 221 

The Holy Spirit had moved her, as we have related, 
to offer herself as a victim of penance for the sins of 
the world and the evils which afflicted the Church; 
and God accepted the generous sacrifice which He Him- 
self had prompted. But it was also part of the Divine 
design to confound a proud and self-sufficient age, an 



which makes them differ completely the one from the other. 
Thus, for example, Lidwine of Schiedam and, in our days, Do- 
menica Lazzari (the Addolorata of the Tyrol) manifest them- 
selves chiefly as pm'ely corporal victims, like to the ancient vir- 
gin martyrs, while others, like St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi or B. 
Colomba of Eieti, fight and suffer for the Church in a spiritual 
manner. But all resemble each other in this point, that their 
life is a continual sacrifice, an uninterrupted state of suffering, 
in which everything is abandoned without reserve to the leading 
and to the designs of God. By their sufferings they are to ex- 
piate or do penance, in the place of the guilty, for shortcomings 
in the Church and the damage she has sustained though the 
fault of the different classes of persons composing her. By 
their prayers and supplications, or, rather, by an extraordinary 
gift of grace, which renders their prayer an action, they have to 
turn away the tribulations and dangers which menace the 
Church, her head, &c. ; to obtain for sinners the gi'ace of con- 
version, for the wandering and the feeble, purity and firmness 
in the faith, for pastors and guardians of the faith, intrepidity 
and indefatigable zeal ; finally, they have to struggle for those 
souls which would be lost through the negligence of pastors. 
Besides the task of prayer and expiation, there is also the 
militant task which souls favoured with extraordinary gifts 
have to accomplish. This consists in taking on them person- 
ally the dangers menacing soul and body, the ills, the tempta- 
tions, the strong allurements to certain sins : here, then, it is 
no longer simply a suffering or a sacrifice, the fruits of which 
are to profit another ; it is a question of exposing themselves 
personally to a definite danger menacing body or soul ; it is a 
question of taking entirely on themselves an evil, a malady, an 
assault, or a temptation, which necessitates on the part of those 
who act as substitutes a real combat and a complete victory 
for the profit of the souls from whom they have thus averted 
the danger or evil.' Anna Maria seems to have fulfilled all 
these several offices as a victim of expiation. 



222 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

age in love with its own progress in science and in the 
penetration of nature's secrets, and which thought itself 
wise enough to do without God, by imparting to this 
poor woman a knowledge, a science, and a penetration 
into things both human and divine, an acquaintance 
with events past, present, and future, by comparison 
with which all the boasted wisdom of the world's phi- 
losophers, statesmen, diplomatists, men of genius, should 
be as sheer ignorance. She was not simply to love, 
to pray, to do penance in secret : * If,' says P. Eouffier, 
^ Heaven had only desired a victim, her mission, like 
that of so many others, might have been accomplished 
and finished in obscurity. The victim being laid upon 
the altar, the perfume of its prayers, of its tears, and 
of its expiation ascending daily before the Lord, silence 
would have shrouded the holocaust and its immola- 
tions, and the justice of God, being satisfied, would 
have given place to mercy without revealing the se- 
crets of a hidden life whose merits Heaven reserved to 
itself to crown. But the Venerable Servant of God 
had yet another mission. In choosing her for a victim, 
God had at the same time chosen her to manifest His 
glory : she was to be, under the guidance of His grace, 
an instrument of that power which confounds and 
abases pride.' It was eminently a sceptical age, a ma- 
terialistic age, which boldly denied the supernatural. 
God was denied the power, so to say, of intervening in 
His own creation even by those who condescendingly 
admitted the existence of a Supreme Being. Be it that 
He had created the world, it was constituted according 
to laws which its maker or framer Himself could not 
infringe. Miracles were therefore not only improbable, 
they were essentially impossible. ^ Before these bold 
contemners of all Divine intervention God intervened,' 



HER VISION OF THE MYSTERIOUS SUN. 223 

says P. Eouffier ; ^ and Anna Maria was one amongst 
those chosen souls in whom He affirmed with an in- 
vincible force the existence of the supernatural. In 
this humble woman the supernatural displayed itself 
in all its splendour, and that, too, all of a sudden and 
without preparation. While human events appeared, in 
the humiliations of the Papacy, to justify proud science 
and the criminal calculations of anti-religious and anti- 
social conspiracies, an obscure woman arose who pos- 
sessed the secrets of the future, and gave consoling 
assurances of the triumph of justice and of truth. In 
the depth of the night which envelops civil and re- 
ligious society, we behold Anna Maria set as a lighted 
candle upon a pedestal of ignorance and poverty, caus- 
ing the supernatural to shine forth with an evidence 
which • confounds the most incredulous.' She was to 
know, to see, and to foresee what unilluminated mortal 
sight can neither behold nor penetrate, and that with 
a clearness, a comprehensiveness, and an unfailing cer- 
tainty, unparalleled hitherto in the lives of the most 
eminent contemplatives. 

But it was not merely for the purpose of confound- 
ing the pride and false wisdom of the age that God 
was thus pleased to enlighten this favoured soul; it 
was in order to enable- her to exercise the special Apos- 
tleship for which He designed her, and to accomplish 
the sacrifice to which she had devoted herself. She 
must know the divers needs of the souls whom she 
was to aid, the deplorable state of sinners ; she must 
be aware of the snares which Satan was spreading, of 
the perils of the Church, everything, in fine, which 
God had called her to remedy. For this end the abid- 
ing possession of that divine mirror to which we have 
often alluded was the appointed means ; while the 



224 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

sights and secrets it revealed were to conduce to her 
own sanctification, nourishing and intensifying in her 
the virtue of divine charity, and keeping alive the 
spirit of self-ohlation. 

We propose to devote this chapter to a description 
of the mysterious sun and to some observations upon 
the nature of this gift. And first we must premise that 
her possession of this extraordinary favour was estab- 
lished by thousands of facts of which the principal are 
recorded in the depositions made by the witnesses in 
the juridical inquest. Its divine origin is equally well 
established. The tree is known by its fruits, and the 
eminent virtues of this great servant of God, especially 
her humility and obedience, would be alone sufficient 
to prove that she was under heavenly guidance and not 
the victim of any illusion. The numerous conversions 
obtained in consequence of the light she derived from 
this * sun' equally attest its supernatural character. No 
fact, indeed, can be considered as ever having been 
more abundantly and satisfactorily demonstrated. 

This luminous disc was of the apparent magnitude 
of the visible sun in the heavens, surrounded by its 
rays. According to what Anna Maria told those to 
whom obedience constrained her to describe this won- 
der, the sun appeared to be at about four feet distance 
from her, and the height of one foot above her head. 
It always maintained the same position. At the ex- 
tremity of the upper rays was a large crown of inter- 
woven thorns, co-extensive with the dimensions of the 
sun. From each extremity of the crown issued a long 
and thick thorn, curved downwards, so that the two 
finally crossed each other under the solar disc, their 
points emerging on each side from the rays. In the 
centre of the sun was a beautiful woman, majestically 



HER VISION OF THE MYSTERIOUS SUN. 225 " 

seated on the right side, her face raised towards heaven 
in ecstatic contemplation, and her garments resplendent 
with the most vivid light ; two rays of great splendour 
issued vertically from her forehead, as Moses is repre- 
sented when he came down from the Mount. The feet 
of the figure touched the lower extremity of the left 
side of the solar orb, which shone with the most in- 
tense brightness ; it was inaccessible- to the shadows 
and figures which arose from beneath ; when they ap- 
proached it they seemed to be dispelled, as if an invi- 
sible force had impetuously repulsed them, and they 
vanished and were extinguished at the foot of the disc. 
But they commonly passed to the right or left of the 
rays, and above or beneath the disc. With the soli- 
tary exception of the souls of the blessed, everything 
which entered the luminous centre was dissipated and 
lost. The figures were described by Anna Maria as 
passing in the sun's rays as in a magic lantern. ^ She 
assured me many times,' says the Cardinal, ' that the 
brilliancy of the mysterious sun would have dazzled 
the strongest sight; and yet she beheld it with her 
afflicted eye, of which she had almost entirely lost the 
use, and with which she could not clearly distinguish 
other objects. In this mysterious sun,' he elsewhere 
says, ' she not only saw things of the natural and moral 
orders belonging to this lower world, but she pene- 
trated the abysses and the heights of heaven. She 
knew the state of the departed with an assurance be- 
yond expression. She saw objects at the greatest dis- 
tance, the physiognomy of persons whom she did not 
know, and who might be at the extremities of the 
earth ; she had a knowledge of the profoundest myste- 
ries of nature and of grace. She discerned the secret 
thoughts of persons who were present, and even of 

Q 



226 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

such as were far off. The state of consciences "was 
manifested to her with the greatest certainty. The 
order of time did not exist for her ; the events and the 
men of the past and of the future were before her at 
will, with all the circumstances appertaining, both na- 
tural and moral, in the fullest detail. It sufficed for 
her to cast a glance on the mysterious sun : instantly 
the thing to which her thoughts were directed became 
present to her, with an immediate perception and a 
complete knowledge of all she desired to know, in all 
its particulars.' 

Cardinal Pedicini, moreover, thus expresses his 
opinion upon the sublime character of this gift. ' There 
is not the slightest doubt but that the Divinity resided 
in a special manner in the mysterious sun. Thanks to 
this extraordinary and truly unexampled favour, Anna 
Maria possessed and enjoyed the knowledge of all things 
in God, so far as it may be had in this life. It was a 
gift of Paradise ; the blessed alone possess it in its 
fullest extent in beatific glory ; but it is certain that 
the servant of God had a continual and permanent 
participation of it at her pleasure. The knowledge of 
all things in God was always at her disposal, so far as 
the intelligence of a soul still in the condition of this 
present life is capable of such knowledge. Also we are 
assured that the Heavenly Spouse said to her, at several 
different times, that for her He had done what He had 
never done for others ; and that if the persons who 
came to see her had known what was with her, they 
would have fallen upon theu' knees, not on account of 
her, who was a poor and miserable creature, but on 
account of Him who abode always with her ; and other 
like affectionate expressions did He use. He told her 
also that He had established His seat in her heart, and 



HER VISION OF THE MYSTERIOUS SUN. 227 

that He made known to her His heavenly decrees, His 
divine appointments, His greatest secrets, admitting 
her into the privacy of His chamber. We may apply 
literally to the mysterious sun of which we are speak- 
ing those words of the Prophet-king \ '^ In sole posuit 
tahernaculmn suum — He hath set His tabernacle in the 
sun."* Onet who was deeply experienced in mystical 
things has explained the symbolic sign as representing 
the Divine Incarnate Wisdom, who resided therein 
after a special manner. This interpretation seems well 
founded. The luminous sun represented the Divinity ; 
the crown of thorns and the two long thorns which 
formed a cross indicated the passible Human ISTature, 
with its chief dolorous mysteries, and represented the 
Son of God made Man for our salvation. Wisdom is 
specially attributed to the Second Person of the Blessed 
Trinity. The majestic female figure seen, in the mys- 
terious sun, seated in the attitude of contemplation con- 
firms this interpretation.' Moreover, the Venerable Ser- 
vant of God admitted that this explanation was sub- 
stantially correct, and said that the Omnipotence of the 
Divine Incarnate Wisdom resided in the sun. God, 
we know, is present everywhere. Nevertheless we learn 
from Eevelation that He has at different times and in 
different places been present in a s|)ecial manner. We 
need but instance the Ark of the Covenant, the myste- 
rious cloud in the Temple, the burning bush, and, 
again, the thunders and lightnings which accompanied 
the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. If 

* Psalm xviii. 6. 

f The Cardinal here alludes to P. Poggiarelli, an Augus- 
tinian, who had the opportunity of heinpf fully acquainted with 
the spirit of Anna Maria, as ho directed her in the absence of 
her confessor. 



228 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

such was the case under the Old Law, before the Se- 
cond Person of the Blessed Trinity had become incar- 
nate and taken human flesh, how much more might we 
expect to find analogous favours under the New Cove- 
nant of grace, when God has come so marvellously near 
to us that, after the Unity of the Three Persons in the 
Godhead, there is no unity so marvellous or so close as 
that existing in virtue of the Hypostatic Union of the 
Divine and Human Natures in Christ. 

Before proceeding to any details, we will say a few 
words with reference to the CardinaFs express asser- 
tion, confirmed by the assurance given by our Lord 
Himself to the servant of God, that this favour sho^vn 
to Anna Maria was unexampled, and respecting its 
nature as a permanent gift; availing ourselves chiefly 
of some observations extracted from the apologetic 
memoranda of the postulators and inserted in the 
Analeda Juris Fontrfidi!^ 

This supernatural gift, then, was certainly new and 
unprecedented in its form, but it was not altogether 
unexampled in its substantial nature. St. Prances of 
Pome, for instance, enjoyed during twenty-seven years 
the permanent vision of an archangel, who fulfilled to- 
wards her an ofiice very similar to that of which the 
sun was the instrument in Anna Maria's case. St. 
Prances was twenty-nine years of age, and engaged in 
the married state, when the archangel appeared to her 
for the first time. He was replaced by a spirit belong- 
ing to an order superior to that of the Archangels, 
namely, one of the Powers, at the period when the holy 
widow entered a convent. The permanent vision of 
this angel, which is attested by the Eoman Breviary, 
exercised a marvellous influence on the sanctification 
* Vol. iv. part i. pp. 421-4. 



HER VISION OF THE MYSTERIOUS SUN. 229 

of Frances, while it was at the same time a source 
of precious graces to her neighbour. The presence of 
so pure and glorious a spirit produced a profound sen- 
timent of humility in the soul, which clearly perceived 
its own vileness and unworthiness. If Frances com- 
mitted a slight involuntary fault the angel disappeared, 
and only manifested himself again after she had recog- 
nissd her faiUng and besought God's pardon. By the 
assistance of the angel she saw near things and distant 
things, present and future, as also the secret thoughts 
of others, with a certainty which made persons believe 
that she could read hearts. The sun afforded the same 
kind of light to Anna Maria, and she exercised by its 
means a continual control over her dispositions and 
behaviour; she saw her involuntary defects, in this 
luminary, in the form of shades, or specks, like flies ; 
and when the servant of God humbled herself, im- 
ploring forgiveness, the sun immediately resumed its 
cloudless lustre. 

Perhaps amongst the analogous gifts with which 
saints have been favoured, none bears so much resem- 
blance to that vouchsafed to her as the gift which was 
accorded to the great seer and prophetess of the twelfth 
century, St. Hildegarde, Abbess of the Eenedictines of 
Kupertsberg, near Bingen on the Ehine.* * This pious 
woman' (we quote from the Voix Prophet lques-\ of 
the Abbe Curicque) * was not naturally what is called 
a great genius nor of superior intellect. But the Holy 
Spirit blows where He willeth, and ordinarily reveals 
to the humble and the little the most hidden secrets 

* The heart of this Saint has remained incorrupt, and is 
preserved, with her other relics, in the church of Elbingen, on 
the Yv^ht bank of the Ilhiue. 

t Vol ii. p. 12. 



230 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

of Divine Wisdom ; and, it is worthy of remark that, 
in distributing His gifts, He has most frequently chosen 
simple women to whom to communicate His light, he- 
cause He found them humble and docile/ Here is the 
account which St. Hildegarde herself gives of the di- 
vine light which she enjoyed : * From my childhood to 
this present time, when I am more than seventy years 
of age, I have always beheld this divine light in my 
soul ; and I perceive it neither by the eyes of the body, 
nor by the thoughts of the heart,''^ nor by any action 
of my exterior senses, my eyes nevertheless remaining 
open, and the other corporal senses preserving their 
activity. This light which I perceive is not local, but 
it is infinitely more brilliant than that of the sun, and 
I could not scan either its height, or length, or breadth. 
Its name I am told' (she means inwardly) 4s " the sha- 
dow of the living light ;" and even as the sun, the 
moon, and the stars are reflected in the water, so the 
writings, discourses, virtues, and works of man are ma- 
nifested to me in this light. Of all that I see or learn 
in this manner I retain the memory a long time. I 
see, I hear, and I know all together, and w^hat I know 
I learn as in a moment of time ; but I remain ignorant 
of what I do not see, for I am almost entirely illiterate ; 
and as for what I write about this vision, I do not set 
down any other words but those I hear, employing 
Latin words undeclined^ (such seems to be the meaning 
of the expression she uses, which clearly refers to her 
own ungrammatical use of the Latin tongue). ' I do 
not understand these words after the manner of sounds 

* It appears from this account that St. Hildegarde's vision 
was intellectual. In this characteristic it dilBfers from that of 
Anna Maria, who permanently beheld the mysterious sun with 
her hodily eye. 



HER VISIOJJ OF THE MYSTERIOUS SUN. 231 

formed by a liuman moutli, but like a sparkling flame, 
or a cloud glidirig in a clear sky. I cannot at all un- 
derstand the form of this light, any more than I can 
gaze directly at the sphere of the sun. IS^evertheless, 
I occasionally perceive in this light' {lumen) ' another 
light' {lux), ' but I do not see it often, and I should be 
still less able to state its form than I am that of the 
first. When I contemplate it I lose the memory of all 
sadness and of all pain ; then I have the simplicity of 
a child, and not the sentiments of an already aged 
woman. My soul enjoys uninterruptedly the sight of 
the '' shadow of the light." It appears to me like a 
firmament without stars in a bright cloud, and it is in 
this that I see what I have stated of this splendour of 
the living light. From my childhood to my fortieth 
year I had not ceased to behold this vision, and at that 
time it was the means of my recovering the fulness of 
my strength, of which numerous maladies with which 
I was af9.icted from my youth up had deprived me. 
Then, constrained by the Spirit, I revealed all to a Ee- 
ligious whom I had taken for my guide, and who, much 
surprised, bade me secretly commit to writing what I 
had seen, or might hereafter see, in order that he him- 
self, after having examined this writing, might form a 
judgment or, at least, a conjecture concerning it.''^"" So 
far the saintly Abbess. The author of the Voix Pro- 
■pJietiques, referring subsequently to the * mysterious 
sun' of Anna Maria Taigi, and recording our Lord's 
assertion that He had done for her what He had never 
hitherto done for any of His servants, conferring upon 
her an unprecedented gift, adds, ^ This must be under- 
stood only as regards the form and mode of operation. 
Let the reader revert to wjiat we have already said of 
* Voix Frophetiqucs, vol. ii. p. 15. 



232 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

the ^4iglit" and ^' the shadow of the light" of which St. 
Hildegarde never lost sight, and he will be struck with 
the similarity of these two kinds of prophetic vision.''"* 
The providential mission of Anna Maria Taigi offers 
many analogous features to that which St. Catherine 
of Siena filled heretofore, as also to that of St. Eose of 
Yiterbo and St. Margaret of Cortona. Compare the 
account of the vocation of St. Catherine of Siena, for 
instance, with what has been narrated in the case of 
the Venerable Anna jMaria when received as a Tertiary 
of the Trinitarians. God said to Catherine, ' Thou must 
fulfil all justice ; and this will be when I shall render 
thee by My grace useful and full of fruits, not only for 
thyself, but also for thy neighbour. ... I will send thee, 
although thou art devoid of knowledge and without 
education, to confound the presumption and pride of 
the wise of this world.' Catherine humbled herself, ex- 
claiming, 'How can it be possible that a mean and weak 
woman such as I am should be useful for the salvation 
of souls'?' God rejDlied, Tear not that I should ever 
abandon thee ; far from it, I shall be ever with thee in 
all which thou shalt have to do.' But Anna Maria was 
not as free with respect to her movements as were St. 
Catherine of Siena and other saints chosen to similar 
missions. Her poverty and her married state alike con- 
tributed to deprive her of the free command and dis- 
posal of her time or of her actions. She therefore 
specially needed supernatm^al illumination, and could 
not have adequately fulfilled her mission without such 
aid, which made her acquainted with the needs of souls 
and with the condition of the world and of the Church. 
The mysterious sun, by continually revealing to her 
the state of consciences and the sins whereby God was 
* Voix Prophet I qites, p. 144. 



HER VISION 01? THE MYSTERIOUS SUN. 233 

offended, excited her, moreover, to prayer, expiation, 
and those generous oblations of self which resulted in 
a martyrdom of multiplied and continual sufferings. 

This gift, Vv^hich was one of the gratis data^ was, 
as we have said, permanent. INot only was the orb of 
light always before her eye, not only was she con- 
tinually seeing visions and receiving revelations therein, 
but she had practically the entire command of it, so to 
say. It was a mirror in which she could at any time 
see whatever she desired, and obtain an answer to any 
question she asked ; and although, as we shall find, she 
was very temperate in her use of this power, it was 
none the less at her disposal every day, every hour, 
and every minute of the forty-seven years that elapsed 
from the moment at which she first beheld this mys- 
terious luminary. Yet the gift, though permanent, was 
not hahitualj in the theological sense of the term. 
Grace, as we know, is distinguished into habitual and 
actual. By a habit we understand a quality inherent 
in the soul : such is sanctifying grace, which, given us 
in baptism, abides so dong as sin does not deprive us 
of it. Actual grace is an operation by which God en- 
lightens our minds, or stirs our hearts,- to aid us in the 
performance of a good action, in resistance to tempta- 
tion, in endurance of suffering, and to prompt us to 
generous acts of sacrifice. The grace ceases with the 
occasion for w^hich it was bestowed. Does, hoAvever, 
the same kind of division into habitual and actual exist 
in the case of the gifts gratis data ? Do any of these 
gifts belong to the class of habitual graces V^ Theo- 

* To this question Sylvius thus replies : — * Quaodam sunt 
habituales, eaB scilicet qua3 permanenter insunt. sax)ientia, 
scientia, fides (excellens nimirum), donum lin^^aiarum, donum 
interpretaudi sermoncs: aliie vero sunt actuales, hoc est, con- 



23^ V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 



4i 



logians tell iis that such as reside in the soul, as the 
gift of wisdom, science, eminent faith, that of tongues, 
and of the interpretation of tongues, &c., are of this 
character ; while those which cease with the action of 
God producing them, as the gift of healing and of 
miracles, the gift of the discernment of spirits, tl^at of 
prophecy, &c., must be classed as actual graces. 

Of a grace which is habitual, and is therefore in- 
herent as a supernatural quality in the soul, the soul 
can make use at will ; not so as respects actual grace, 
which is an impulse, or a light, or a help, imparted by 
God according to His will with reference to some par- 
ticular object. The sun was external to Anna Maria's 
soul, and independent of her will ; and she was enabled 
to behold it by a supernatural virtue communicated to 
her eyes, a virtue renewed every time she beheld it, 
and with respect to which she was purely passive. All 
this differs essentially from a habit inherent in the soul, 
which has no need of an external object to accomplish 
its act. Since the corporal vision of the sun was actual, 
so also necessarily were the lights resulting from it. 
They could not possibly constitute an habitual gift, 
foimded on an interior principle inherent in the soul. 
Therefore no habit, in the theological sense of the word, 
existed. There is, however, no contradiction in terms 
when we say that this gift was permanent, There is 
nothing in the nature of an actual Q:race to hinder it 
from being so, when God so wills it. ^Ye may instance 
the gift of miracles, one of those gifts which are not 
habitual, yet which some saints have possessed in a 



sistentes in actii, in actuali scilicet Dei motione, quae simul 
cnm tali gratianim exercitio finitnr et transit, ut sunt opera 
vii'tutum sen mii*aculornm, gi*atia sanationum, proplietia, dis- 
oretio spuitum (C. i. 2, Qusest. 171, Ai*t. 1). 



HER VISION OF THE MYSTERIOUS SUN. 235 

peTmanent manner. Witness what we are told of St. 
Vincent Ferrer. Teoli, his biographer, observes, ' The 
saint possessed the gift of miracles in so marvellous a 
manner that, although it was not a liahit, seeing that 
God does not communicate to the saints the power of 
working miracles as a habit, nevertheless the saint 
wrought them so frequently and so freely that a mind 
little versed in theological principles might suppose 
that the gift was habitual. For just as we use habits 
at our will, so the saint fixed the hour and the mo- 
ment, and even caused a bell to be rung to assemble the 
persons who were desirous to have a miracle wrought ; 
and when his superiors forbade his performing any, he 
delegated to others the power of working them.' Of 
St. Francis of Paula it is narrated that he worked no 
less than three hundred miraculous cures in the course 
of a few days. 

It is possible, then, for the exercise of a gift to be 
so frequent and, indeed, so constant, as to wear the 
semblance of an habitual gift, although it is not really 
so. Anna Maria herself declared that she was purely 
passive with reference to the astonishing gift which she 
had received. She saw in the sun only what God willed 
to manifest to her. It is true that practically she may 
be said to have had the use of it at will, for God ac- 
complished all her desires by manifesting to her what 
she desired to see or know. ISTor need this surprise us 
when we remember the great circumspection with which 
she invariably acted in this matter ; never directing her 
attention to the sun from curiosity or any mere human 
motive, but solely when the glory of God or the spi- 
ritual good of souls was concerned, or by obedience, or 
in consequence of a divine movement or impulsion. 
But, strictly speaking, she had not the command of 



236 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGL "^ 

the gift. So independent of "her was it, that often 
things were presented to her in the sun which she was 
not seeking to see, and which she could not possibly 
have been seeking ; things which frequently she did 
not understand, and the explanation of which she even 
abstained from asking. All this fully proves that the 
gift was in no way derived from an interior principle, 
which would have conferred upon her its free and 
voluntary exercise. 

The gift, then, although permanent, was not habi- 
tual ; neither was it in continual exercise : for such 
a continuous act would be impossible under our pre- 
sent conditions of existence. The permanence of the 
gift consisted in this — that she always possessed the 
power of using it in conformity with the end for which 
God vouchsafed it ; according to need, and according 
to the impulse of divine grace. It was thus with the 
Apostles : they received special gifts, particularly after 
the coming of the Holy Ghost ; the exercise of those 
gifts was not continual ; but the gifts themselves were 
permanent, and they possessed the uninterrupted power 
of employing them for the glory of God. 

God granted to His people during their forty years' 
sojourn in the desert a cloud which shaded them from 
the heats of the day, and a column of lire to guide their 
march during the night towards the promised land; 
these two signs succeeded each other uninterruptedly ; 
and, in spite of the ingratitude of the people, the gift 
was not withdrawn. We can therefore feel no surprise 
if now, under the iN'ew Law, when God bestows His 
benefits with a far greater profusion, He should confer 
an abiding gift on a highly privileged soul, at once to 
aid its own advance on the spiritual path and to con- 
tribute to the salvation of a multitude of others. Anna 



HER VISION OF THE MYSTERIOUS SUN. 237 

Maria many times assured the Cardinal Pedicini, as also 
her own confessor and the confidential priest, that she 
possessed the gift of the sun in a permanent and unin- 
terrupted manner, and that it was ever before her by 
night as well as by day. God gave to Moses the ex- 
traordinary gift of miracles attached to a rod, as a neces- 
sary means to the accomplishment of his mission, which 
was to deliver the people of God from Egyptian bond- 
age ; and the same God was pleased to bestow on the 
Venerable Anna Maria Taigi the extraordinary gift of 
the knowledge of supernatural things by means of a 
mysterious light, wherein she saw the spiritual needs of 
a multitude of souls whom she was called to aid in free- 
ing them from spiritual enslavement. As the gift of 
Moses was permanent, even as was his mission of law- 
giver, why shoidd not that of Anija Maria have been 
permanent likewise, seeing that her mission lasted well- 
nigh half a century 1 Another, and a conclusive, reason 
for its permanence was that God had granted it to her, 
before all things, for her own personal sanctification, as 
already stated : to make her cognisant of her faults, and 
to excite her to the practice of all virtues, especially to 
those generous acts of expiatory self-sacrifice which 
were to procure the conversion of sinners, a mission 
which formed the ceaseless occupation of her life. 



238 



CHAPTEE XV. 

WHAT AXXA MARIA SAW IX THE MYSTERIOUS SUN, AND 
HOW SHE DISCERNED THE INTERIOR STATE OF SOULS. 

^^E have mentioned in a general way wliat Anna 
^laria saw in the mysterious sun, as summed up by 
Cardinal Pedicini. T\"e must now descend to a few 
illustrative details. 

There was, in fact, nothing which Anna !Maria did 
not behold, or might not behold, if she sought to do 
so, in this luminary. During the first hours of the 
night, when, in the solitude of her chamber, she betook 
herseK to her customary devotions, she would from 
time to time cast a glance at the sun in order to kindle 
her fervour. There she would behold various figures, 
which, indeed, it would appear were continually passing 
within its rays, but which during those hours seem to 
have been peculiarly multiplied. Sometimes she would 
see pictures, or representations, of natural objects; such 
as storms, flashes of lightning, torrents of rain, pesti- 
lences, revolutions, battles, massacres, etc. At other 
times she saw allegorical figures ; such as daggers, nets, 
bullets, incendiary bombs, or crowns, necklaces of gold, 
precious stones, golden showers, and the like. These 
beautiful symbols, the confessor tells us, her Lord caused 
to appear in the sun, often explaining their meaning, 
to recompense her for the mortification of all curiosity 
in regarding it, and to encourage her more and more in 
the practice of perfection. Often she saw the rays part 
asunder and torrents of blood issue from the aperture; 
at other times, and that frequently, she beheld black 
globes flying in the air, which suddenly took fire and 
covered the earth with a dense smoke. Por several 



WHAT SHE SAW IN THE MYSTERIOUS SUN. 239 

successive days, she would see an extremely thick fog, 
followed hy the falling of walls and beams, as if a great 
building had crumbled into ruins. This vision she 
beheld many times. And again, she would see heaps 
of warlike arms piled up, and fireworks discharged. 
Sometimes it pleased God to explain the signification 
of these different symbols ; on other occasions, He lef fc 
her in ignorance; nevertheless, He desired her to record 
them, because their explanation would be seen in events 
hereafter to take place. But all these images and re- 
presentations, whether natural or allegorical, would 
vanish the moment she looked at the sun with a deii- 
nite object in her mind ; and at once what she sought 
appeared, and that with perfect clearness. She used, 
however, as we have observed, great reserve in fixing 
her eye on the sun ; for she said that when she con- 
templated it she was penetrated to the very marrow of 
her bones with a sentiment of awe and reverence, re- 
sembling the fear wdth v/hich the Israelites were seized 
at the sight of the two rays of light issuing from Moses's 
brow. So intense w^as this thrilling awe, that she 
told her confessor it sometimes constrained her to cast 
her eyes down to the ground. The mortification of all 
mere natural feelings and the respect which she exer- 
cised in the use she made of this gift were, as we have 
said, very pleasing to her Lord, who several times testi- 
fied to her His satisfaction thereat. Further, she had 
received a divine assurance from the very first tliat 
nothing which she should behold in this sun would be 
subject to the least illusion or misapprehension ; and 
Mgr. ^N'atali attested that there never was the smallest 
error or the least uncertainty in any of the answers 
which Anna Maria gave. 

But it was not only particular and individual things 



240 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

which, she beheld in this mysterious mirror ; she was 
acquainted generally with the good and evil going on 
throughout the world. She saw the scourges decreed 
for each nation and kingdom, the causes of these chas- 
tisements, and the remedies which might have been 
applied. She saw the disorders of all ranks of society, 
the dissolution of morals, and the insubordination of 
the people, the crimes of the rich, the propagation of 
erroneous doctrines. She saw the whole world in all 
its minutest details, as we see the face of a wall before 
which we are standing ; except that we are obliged to 
scan successively every separate part, if we would have 
an exact knowledge of what we other^vise see only 
in the general, whereas we are assured that she took in 
all at a single glance. It is quite impossible to explain 
how this could be; for it is a thing beyond our ordin- 
ary understanding and the comprehension of' our na- 
tural powers : these must be supernaturally raised and 
subliniated in order to render them capable of such a 
mode of vision, and, in the absence of such capability, 
explanation is obviously out of the question. Xay, the 
very recipient of such a favour fijids no words in human 
language to express its nature. We meet with 'in- 
stances, however, in the lives of Saints which fully 
prove that it has pleased God at times to enable souls 
on whom He has bestowed eminent gifts of the mystical 
order, to see things in a similar manner, which would 
have seemed to be the exclusive privilege of the blessed 
already in the enjoyment of the beatific vision. We 
are told, for instance, by St. Gregory that St. Benedict 
saw the whole world in a single ray of the sun. This 
offers a striking resemblance to the mode in which 
Anna Maria saw all things in her mysterious lumi- 
nary. 



WHAT SHE SAW IN THE MYSTERIOUS SUN. 241 

Ey the help of her sun Anna Maria became a theo- 
logian, a seer, a prophetess ; and accordingly we fmd 
that she was held in the highest veneration by persons 
of the most eminent sanctity ; such as the Venerable 
Monsignor Strambi, the Yenerable Monsignor Menoc- 
chio, the Yenerable Gaspar del Bufalo/^' and other 
servants of God who had attained to the highest per- 
fection, such as D. Yincenzo Pallotti,P, Bernardo Ciausi, 
Monsignor Basilici, Bishop of Sutri and IN'epi, Signor 
Eoberli of the Congregation of the Missions, the Capu- 
chin Fra Felice of Montefiascone, and Fra Petronio of 
Bologna. To these we could add the names of many 
more, illustrious for their virtue, their learning, or their 

* Gaspar del Bufalo was born 6tli January, 1786, at Kome, 
and died there in the same year as Anna Maria, on the Feast 
of the Holy Innocents, Dec. 28th, 1837. His parents were re- 
spectable pious people, and from -his earliest childhood he took 
no pleasure in anything which did not regard the service of God. 
He loved to make little altars (a favourite amusement with 
Catholic children, but his sole recreation), and to imitate holy 
ceremonies, surrounded by other children, to whom he endeav- 
oured to teach the fear of God and reverence for their parents. 
His after course was in every way in accordance with these 
beginnings. He applied himself to the practice of every virtue, 
and the study of theology, and entered the priesthood. He ever 
manifested a singular zeal and address in the instruction of the 
poor and of the young. Pius VII., on his restoration, specially 
selected him to confide to him the direction of the missions 
which he had established throughout the Pontifical States. To 
perpetuate their salutary fruits, this holy man, in concert with 
that great Pontiff, instituted a congregation of missionaries 
under the title of the Most Precious Blood of the Divine Ee- 
deemer Jesus. He founded more than twelve missions during 
his life, which was entirely devoted to apostolic labours, and 
which was illustrated by miracles. On the 15th January 1852, 
on the report of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, Pius IX. de- 
clared him Venerable, The Ordinary and Apostolic Processes 
were pronounced valid in September 1865, and in March 1870 
his writings were declared to be no hindrance to his cause, which 
is progressing. 

R 



242 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

rank and station, often for all combined, who might he 
seen from time to time ascending the staircase of her 
poor abode and conversing with her in her little room 
with all and more than the respect they might have 
shown in the presence of royalty. Cardinal Pedicini, 
we are informed, never failed to go and see the servant 
of God when he was about to visit his diocese of 
Palestrina, in order to receive her instructions ; she ac- 
quainted him with the disorders reigning there, whether 
amongst clergy or people, and told him what remedies 
ought to be applied ; she also apprised him of things 
which would befall himself. And all invariably turned 
out precisely as she said. What wonder that this pre- 
late should have held her in the highest esteem, so that, 
as the priest Natali says, ^ he would not so much as 
move a stray/ without her advice !' Here is the Cardi- 
nal's own testimony on this subject : — ' How many 
times have I not consulted her about the affairs apper- 
taining to the charges I held under Government ; and 
what wise counsels and what lights have I not received 
from her ! The instructions and advice which she gave, 
and the lights which she communicated, proceeded 
indubitably from the Divine Wisdom j it was quite 
impossible that a poor ignorant woman should possess 
a laiowledge so encyclopedic and exact that the study 
and experience of a whole life would not have sufficed 
to acquire it. She also revealed to me things far above 
the reach of human intelligence. If I was uneasy from 
not receiving expected family news, she would cast a 
look on the mysterious sun, and tell me the cause of 
the delay; this was enough to tranquillise me. Expe- 
rience had taught me never to doubt these indications. 
She frequently warned me of things about to occur to 
myself, in order that they might not take me by siir- 



WHAT SHE SAW IN THE MYSTERIOUS SUX. 243 

prise. Affectionate and grateful, she interested herself 
in the least circumstances which concerned me. Her 
generous heart moved her to console every one. On 
leaving her, you felt, not only instructed and enlight- 
ened, but touched, encouraged, comforted ; she related 
to each person his whole life in its every detail, she 
discovered his most secret thoughts; she announced 
what would happen to him, and gave the best advice. 
After all this, it was impossible to doubt but that she 
was divinely illuminated, and that the measures which 
she suggested must be truly efficacious to attain their 
proposed end, particularly where it was question of the 
spiritual good of souls. And all this she did with the 
greatest facility, in a natural and unaffected manner, 
under the form of a friendly conversation; for her, 
indeed, it was easier to know minutely at a glance the 
state of a soul, the situation of an affair, or anything 
else, no matter what, than it is for another to read 
what is written in a book ; for this is a process which 
takes some time, in order to master a subject and the 
way in which it is treated.' 

To all questions of the theological order she replied 
with the simplicity of a child, but wdth a promptness 
and a certainty surpassing that of the most consummate 
master of spiritual science. For she had no need to 
pause a moment for consideration, or to betake her- 
self to study and examination ; she had only to look at 
her sun. Her confessor tells us that, if questioned on 
some dogmatic point, such, for instance, as the concilia- 
tion of predestination with the goodness of God, or if 
asked how the Humanity united to the Divinity could 
suffer, she would at QVkce reply with a precision and a 
theological accuracy at which the most deeply versed 
in the science of divine things were amazed. It was a 



244 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

pleasure, lie says, to hear her speak on such siihjects as 
the Incarnation of the Word or the Maternity and A^ir- 
ginity of Mary, l^either, he adds, did she require any 
book to help her to meditate on the mysteries of reli- 
gion. The moment she turned her mind to the con- 
sideration of any one of them, she at once saw it re- 
flected and represented in the sun. If she thought of 
the Garden of Olives, for example, she beheld the ^'hole 
scene: the treacheiy of Judas, every detail of the Agony, 
the flight of the Apostles, and all the indescribable 
sufierings of Jesus. * What a delight,' writes the con- 
fessor, * was it for pious souls to hear Anna Maria talk 
of the Journey into Egypt, of 'the Last Supper, and the 
other mysteries of the Saviour's life ! She saw and de- 
scribed in its minutest particulars the House of Naza- 
reth, the simple furniture of the Holy Family, the place 
where the Blessed Virgin took her repose, or, rather, 
where she contemplated ; for, said this pious woman, 
the repose (moreover, very short) which the Holy Vir- 
gin gave to her body was a continual contemplation. 
She also saw all the details of the life that Mary lived 
in the house of St. John the Evangelist after the As- 
cension of her Divine Son. If she desired to witness 
the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist, she saw at a 
glance the horrors of his prison, the humility and re- 
signation of the Precursor bowing his head under the 
sword of the executioner, and at the same time she be- 
held the sumptuous banquet of Herod and all the 
abominations which w^ere there perpetrated ; and the 
like took place with regard to the martyrdom of other 
saints. Again, if she wished to see the countenance of 
any one of the blessed, one look sufficed to satisfy her 
desire. As she had a great devotion for St. Joseph, 
she felt a holy curiosity' (natural curiosity, we have 



HER INSIGHT INTO THE STATE OF SOULS. 245 

seen, she never admitted as a motive) * to see him in the 
sun. Accordingly, she beheld him there as very beau- 
tiful and young, although of a more advanced age than" 
Mary, such as became one who was to be the guardian 
of that incomparable Virgin. It was solely from a mo- 
tive of respect, she affirmed, that the Church had given 
him the features of an aged man. She, however, did 
not speak of these things except with such of her spi- 
ritual sons as were admitted to her closest confidence, 
and by the permission of her confessor.' Indeed, if she 
had followed her own bent, she would have been silent 
altogether concerning these extraordinary revelations. 
Obedience, charity, and the movement of God's Spirit 
alone caused her to open her lips. This was because, 
in her humility and her love of simplicity and of the 
hidden life, she avoided all extraordinary things. Hence 
she who was so marvellously and undoubtingly illu- 
minated was, as we have seen, respectful and compliant 
with all about her, renouncing, whenever this was pos- 
sible, not only her own will, but her own views and 
judgment, in deference to those of others. She who 
had at her disposal the mirror of Divine Wisdom, who 
was raised to the loftiest grades of contemplation, and 
to whom heavenly locutions were being constantly ad- 
dressed, might be often seen quietly saying her prayers 
out of a little book, like any good devout soul who can 
aim at nothing higher, and has no experience of any- 
thing better. 

We have already alluded more than once to her 
spiritual sons, of whom it may be well to say something 
further. Very soon after her conversion, and when she 
entered on her mission of charity to her neighbour, 
which first caused her to become known to a more ex- 
tended circle, a certain number of persons placed them- 



246 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

selves under her direction. These were regarded by 
her as a kind of second family, and they continued to 
pay her the respect and deference of children as long 
as she lived; among them were young men who at- 
tained to the priesthood, and whose hands, now rever- 
encing them as her fathers, she would humbly kiss 
when she met them in the street, yet who never ceased 
to regard her as their spiritual mother. I^othing could 
exceed the indefatigable solicitude and care with which 
she watched over this family of hers. Amongst the 
different counsels which she gave them, we are told 
that she was continually urging on them the value of 
force and resolution of character, that force which 
springs from utter distrust of ourselves and entire con- 
fidence in God. She considered it a virtue most es- 
sential to the perfection of a Christian, and, as has 
been seen, she was herself remarkable for it. Her 
supernatural insight into the state of consciences quali- 
fied her eminently for this office of director. Her con- 
fessor tells us that she distinctly saw all the temptations 
of her spiritual sons ; and it often happened that when 
they visited her, she would affectionately reproach them 
with having parleyed with the devil, it might be, that 
morning or the previous evening. She used to advise 
them to cut the matter short with him, and to dread 
his stratagems, which inflict such direful injury on un- 
wary souls. These youths, whom the pious woman was 
wont with truth to call the sons of her soul, had so 
constantly had experience of the divine lights she pos- 
sessed, that often, before receiving Communion, they 
would ask her whether they might do so without fear ; 
whereupon she would just cast a look at her sun, and 
say to them, ' Do not distress yourself,' or, ' Make an 
act of contrition for such or such a careless fault, which 



HER INSIGHT INTO THE STATE OF SOULS. 247 

you forgot to confess, or which you have committed 
since your confession.' 

The confessor, speaking of Luigi Antonini, the 
young man who used to help the servant of God, in the 
matter of her household expenses, says, * Being well 
aware of the great gift she possessed of knowing in an 
instant and with the minutest particularity the state 
of consciences, he would often ask her whether he had 
made a good confession. Anna Maria did not answer 
immediately, but, if he insisted, she would glance for 
an instant at the mysterious sun, and, taking him aside, 
would say, *^ In accusing yourself of such a fault you 
forgot this or that circumstance." Then he would re- 
flect a moment, and reply, " Ah, yes, it is very true !" ' 

* Hear,' says the priest, her confidant, ' what happened 
to myself, and that many times. When I returned to 
the house' (it will be remembered he was an inmate) 

* she used to tell me what temptations I had had, and 
instructed me how to behave in such cases. Some- 
times, observing me thoughtful and ill at ease before 
saying holy Mass, she would disclose to me my secret 
thoughts, and the inward disquietude of my heart, and 
would then console me.' 

The following incident, related also by the same 
priest, will exhibit Anna Maria's maternal tenderness 
for her spiritual children, and at the same time her 
jealous fear lest she should give entrance to any mere 
natural tenderness. It will also illustrate the simple 
and affectionate terms which our Lord employed in 
addressing this favoured soul. One of her spiritual 
sons had particularly pleased her by a faithful corre- 
spondence to her counsels. He was obliged to leave 
home for a time ; this distressed Anna Maria, and, 
fearing that too human an affection might have some 



248 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

share in this sorrow of hers, she one day knelt down 
with this dear son before her little altar, and addressed 
the following fervent prayer to the Lord : ' God of all 
goodness, behold me prostrate at Thy feet, with my 
child. I sacrifice him to Thee willingly; only give 
him Thy holy love. Thou knowest my secret dis- 
positions ; if, then. Thou seest that my heart is 
too weak in his regard, take away my life, but do 
me the charity of granting me all that I ask in his 
favour, not because I ask it, but because Thou art 
great.' She had scarcely uttered these words when 
she was transported in spirit to the Ccenaculum, and 
received this tender reply from the mouth of the Ke- 
deemer : * See, My daughter, what great love I had for 
My Apostles ; how I treated them, how I loved them, 
and all I did for them. Three of them failed Me in the 
Garden of OHves, and although My sufferings were so 
excessive as to make Me sweat blood, yet, seeing them 
asleep, I rose and went to waken them. They took 
fright, fled, and abandoned Me. See, My daughter, 
all I did for Judas ; how I embraced and caressed him ; 
but his ears were deaf to Me, and he was bent on his 
own destruction. Thus no one can reckon for long 
upon the good- will of creatures. See, again, how not- 
withstanding the great love which I bore My mother, 
I was fain to leave her with complete disengagement 
and detachment ; and wilt thou not, for the love of Me, 
make this sacrifice of being separated from thy child, 
and that only for some short time f 

The discernment of consciences was as easy to Anna 
Maria, as it is to us, to read a book in our native tongue. 
^Nothing escaped her ; she clearly perceived the faults, 
the natural and moral dispositions, of each person, and 
even his secret intentions. It was by this means that 



HER INSIGHT INTO THE STATE OF SOULS. 249" 

she converted so many sinners ; for, besides the charity, 
zeal, and cordiality Avith which she received them, be- 
sides the penances which she imposed upon herself in 
their behalf, she made their examination of conscience 
for them with an accuracy which perfectly astounded 
them, often revealing to them sins of which they had 
not been themselves aware. She was visited one day 
by a young lady of good family. Anna Maria had 
never seen her before, but she read her interior at a 
glance, and frankly told her the state of her soul. The 
surprise of this lady was very great, and equally so was 
the beneficial change that was wrought in her. She 
at once prepared herself to make a good confession, and 
devoted herself henceforward to the service of God. 
She kept up a frequent communication with her bene- 
factress, who was the means of consoling her in a re- 
verse of fortune caused by her husband's refusal to 
serve the usurping government in obedience to the 
commands of Pius YII., then a prisoner in France. 
He lost thereby a high employment he had held under 
the Pontifical administration. His wife was in great 
dread of falling into want, but Anna Maria told her to 
have no fear. * Your husband,' she said, * has lost his 
office through conscientious fidelity to duty. God will 
provide the needful.' And, in fact, her husband ob- 
tained without any compromise of principle a situation 
which placed him in as easy and even better circum- 
stances than before. Another instance is related of a 
young lady, who was converted from a life, not merely 
of carelessness, but of sin. She came to Anna Maria, 
and implored her with tears to obtain a particular fa- 
vour for her. The piou€ woman received her with 
much affection, but unfolded to her the deplorable con- 
dition of her soul, exhorting her to reconcile herself to 



250 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

God by a good confession, and a firm resolution to 
change her life. Anna Maria addressed the most fer- 
vent petitions to God for the conversion of this soul, 
and received the assurance, by a heavenly voice, that 
her prayers were granted. The lady made her con- 
fession, and, this done, the favour she had solicited was 
accorded. The sincerity of her conversion was proved 
by her thorough amendment ; the accomplice of her 
guilt was also converted. 

D. Eaffaele Natal i, who lived with her, was not 
the only priest who was indebted to her for relief when 
suffering from inward perturbation of spirit. An arch- 
bishop, Mgr. Giierrieri, was giving the Eenediction of 
the Blessed Sacrament in the Church of San Eartolo- 
meo on the Piazza Colonna. The servant of God was 
present, and beheld in the mysterious sun the mental 
distress and disturbance with which this good prelate 
was harassed. After Benediction she sent him v.^ord, 
probably by means of D. Kaifaele, that she desired to 
speak with him. He willingly consented; she then 
manifested to him the interior pains from which he 
had suffered during the function, and gave him some 
excellent advice. So surprised and consoled was he 
by this communication, that from that hour he con- 
ceived the highest regard for her, and remained in 
confidential relations with her until death. P. Ber- 
nard Clausi, a Eeligious of the order of St. Francis of 
Paula, w^hom we have already named among the holy 
persons who held her in high estimation, also received 
(Mgr. Luquet tells us) great assistance, when suffering 
interior pains, from the light and counsels communi- 
cated to him by her through* the medium of another ; 
probably (as in the last-mentioned case) the same who 
was her confidential B,^Gnt in all affairs of this kind. 



HER INSIGHT INTO THE STATE OP SOULS. 251 

But many persons, amongst whom were numbered not 
a few of high rank, received counsels and warnings 
from her without so much as knowing to whom they 
were indebted. ^ Meeting any one in the street,' says 
her confessor, * she discovered in an instant the interior 
of his conscience and the divine decrees concerning him 
in regard both to death and eternity. If she met a 
corpse being carried to the grave, she had at once before 
her the whole life of the deceased, his punishment or 
his reward, and the grounds of the sentence. Persons 
who happened to be accompanying the pious woman, 
seeing sadness or joy reflected in her countenance, 
would inquire the cause, and then, if she felt it to be 
allowable, she would tell them.' Soon after the birth 
of one of her own children, she knew that if he con- 
tinued to live, he would one day forfeit his life on a 
scaffold, albeit for a crime of no very great magnitude. 
She had recourse to the Divine goodness, and obtained 
that the infant should die a few months afterwards. 

If any one who was affiliated to the secret societies 
presented himself before her, immediately a dark veil 
would pass over the mysterious sun, and she beheld 
instantaneously all his plots and designs ; but, on tlie 
other hand, if a virtuous person came to see her tlie 
solar disc immediately bore witness to his merits. ' I 
remember,' says D. Eaffaele, ' that on one occasion 
Don Yincenzo Pallotti,'^* coming to visit me, spoke for 

* Vincenzo Pallotti was an ecclesiastic of remarkable holi- 
ness. He died in 1850, after having devoted his life to the 
practice of the most heroic charity ; the influence he thus ac- 
quired was so great that the very sight of him and the mere 
sound of his voice would draw tears from the most hardened 
sinner. His self-denial and mortification were extreme. For 
many years his daily food consisted only of roots and herbs, and, 
except when ill, he never lay down. It was his practice to pass 



2o2 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

a minute to Anna Maria. 'VMien he was gone, I in- 
quired of the pious woman what she had seen in her 
sun during the visit. She replied that it shone with 
unusual brilliancy. This holy man received particular 
consolation firom the servant of God, at a time when 
he was much distressed about one of his cousins, who, 
liaving fallen into a state of great mental depression on 
account of the disorder of his affairs, had fled the coun- 
try. Xothing could be discovered concerning him not- 
withstanding the most diligent inquiries, so that his 
friends feared that he had put an end to himsel£ Don 
Tincenzo b^ged the priest to ask the prayers of Anna 
Maria. She immediately raised her eyes to the sun, 
and saw the place where Don Tincenzo's relative had 
concealed himself, of which he was informed, to his 
great relief. The sequel proved the truth of her 
assertion.' 

Her knowledge of secret intentions was the means 
sometimes of preventing great misfortunes and great 
crimes. An instance occurred in the case of a gentleman 
for whose salvation she was particularly interesting her- 
self : • While thinking of him,' says the same witness, 
* she cast her eyes upon the sun, and, caUing suddenly 



whole nights in 5oi::.r cL r 1. kneeling, on the bare stone, in 
adoration before the I ^ _eiit. Public opinion attri- 

buted to his intercesii :_ : _ _ i of cures and other favonrs 
reputed to be supematnraL Like another holy man, P. Ber- 
nardo Clausi, he foretold that great calamities were about to 
fall upon the Church, and on the city of Eome ; but he com- 
forted those who were saddened by these predictions with the 
assurance of a great triumph of religion through the all-powerfnl 
mediation of 31ary, to whom both these holy persons were most 
deTout- We shall see how perfectly these prophecies coincide 
with those of Anna Maria TaigL An English life of this holy 
man has been published by Dr. Baphael Melia (Bums is Oates, 
1S71). 



HER INSIGHT INTO THE STATE OF SOULS. 253 

to me, bade me run to this man's house, because he was 
on the point of committing suicide ; that he had been 
seized with melancholy owing to the derangement of 
his affairs, and the devil was tempting him violently. 
I ran and found him alone in his room and much agi- 
tated. I only spoke a few words to him on the part 
of the servant of God, and strove to tranquillise his 
mind ; he then acknowledged to me that, had I de- 
layed but another minute, he would have discharged a 
pistol at himself, and I should have found him dead.' 
Anna Maria was likewise instrumental in preserving 
persons from Satanic deceits and impostures on various 
occasions. ^ P. Settimio Poggiarelli,' says the same 
priest, -^ an Augustine Eeligious, of great repute for 
piety, told me one day in confidence that, while pray- 
ing for an affair which deeply interested him, he had, 
during the night, an apparition of two angels, who as- 
sured him of its success. However, as he had a high 
esteem for Anna Maria, he commissioned me to consult 
her in the matter. The pious woman, after casting a 
look at her sun, gave the following reply : '^ These two 
pretended angels were two devils, who had assumed 
this form in order to deceive him ;" she added that 
the affair would turn out in direct contradiction to 
what they had announced ; and so in fact it did.' 

The same witness observes that her knowledge of 
coiiisciences and discernment of spirits were unerring. 
' I was in the habit at one time,' he says, ' of frequent- 
ing the society of P. cli Capistrano, General of the 
Observantines Minor. One day he told me that he 
had under his guidance a holy nun of Monte Castrillo, 
whose gifts and virtues he highly extolled. I spoke to 
him of the entire confidence I placed in our servant of 
God ; upon which he begged me to consult her, and 



254 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

ascertain ^vllaL she thought of this Eeligioiis. Accord- 
ingly I spoke of her to Anna Maria ; and at first she 
made me no reply, for she ^vas very delicate in the 
matter of charity. As I insisted, she said to me, '' It 
is useless for you to go and take an answer ; do not 
lose your time in all these visits." I understood that 
there must be something reprehensible concealed under 
all this ; so I left off visiting the Father. Yery shortly 
afterwards, he was summoned before the Holy Office 
with his nun, and they were punished.' 'Cardinal 
Franzoni,' he also tells us, ' received a letter from a 
worthy person containing certain prophecies ; he made 
me acquainted with them in confidence, and bade me 
consult Anna Maria. She replied that no value was to 
be attached to these predictions, for that the confessor 
had exaggerated things and made too much of them.' 
^ There was a time,' he says, ' when some of the most 
learned and eminent ecclesiastics were ag^reed in their 
admiration of the piety and supposed supernatural 
gifts of a Poor Clare who was establishing a reform of 
the Third Order of St. Francis. Anna Maria, aware of 
the way of perdition along which she was going, and 
the abyss towards which she was hurrying, seeing that 
she was persuading people that she and a companion of 
hers were favoured with supernatural gifts, went to 
her for the express j^urpose of manifesting to her the 
unhappy state of her soul. She asked to see her, but 
could not speak to her freely, because the foundress 
came accompanied by another Sister. Anna Maria, 
however, gave her some signiticant looks, which made 
her understand that she and her accomplice were de- 
tected. The servant of God went a second time, but 
to no purpose, because the foundress was not sent into 
the parlour. She related these circumstances to me by 



HER INSIGHT INTO THE STATE OF SOULS. 255 

order of her confessor. It is needless to add tliat her 
previsions were always justiiied.' 

The following instance of her spiritual discernment 
and prophetic spirit is recorded by the same priest. 
Cardinal Cristaldi, who at that time was an eminent 
prelate under Leo XII. but not yet raised to the purple, 
was about to repair to Naples. Meeting him accident- 
ally one day in the antechamber of the Pope, J^atali 
observed that he was unusually thoughtful and out of 
spirits. The two were well acquainted^ so that he 
ventured to inquire the reason ; when Mgr. Cristaldi 
confided to him that he was a little uneasy about his 
projected journey. ' That would be a trifle/ he said ; 
* but the misfortune is that a Passionist has told me not 
to go, for that I should die there ; and the worst of it 
is,' he added, smiling, ^ that the Passionist is a holy 
man. Do you know any one who possesses superna- 
tural lights, and who would consult God in prayer for 
me ? I know not what to do. Although I am little 
of a believer in modern prophecies, yet I am sad, I con- 
fess, because the matter concerns my life.' The priest 
promised to recommend the affair to a holy soul, and 
report the answer. On speaking to Anna Maria on the 
subject, she raised her eyes to the sun, and, laughing, 
said, ' Tell him to go without fear. His journey will 
be a happy one, and his return still more so ; and, as 
a proof, tell him that for such and such reasons' — (' I 
have forgotten/ says the witness, * what these were, 
but I know they related to some financial complica- 
tion.') — * the thought which occupies him will not be 
realised, for it is impossible of execution. When at 
^Naples, let him go to a certain convent, where they 
will inform him of two nuns, one of wliom is reputed 
to be a saint ; let him avoid her, for she is under an 



256 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGT. 

illusion ; the other is reckoned to be out of her mind, 
and is despised accordingly, bnt she is a true saint ; let 
him try and speak to her, if they will allow him to see 
her, which is doubtful.' When Ivlgr. Cristaldi was in- 
formed of all this, stupefied at the revelation of his 
profound secret, he struck his brow and said, * Eest 
assured that this idea had never had access to my 
brain, if I may so express myself; so true is it that I 
kept it in the very depth of my heart. I never com- 
municated it to any one ; and, wdienever it occurred to 
my mind, I drove it back into my heart. Is^ow I set 
off satisfied.' He wished to give I). Eaffaele a sum of 
money for the poor w^oman who had been his informant, 
but he positively declined to take it, knowing that i\ una 
Maria would refuse to accept of anything. Xeither 
would he tell him wdio she w^as, notwithstanding the 
prelate's great desire to know. ' He publicly related 
the fact,' says the witness, ' at a dinner which he gave 
his friends before his departure, and his guests w^ere as 
desirous as himself to discover the servant of God who 
was endowed Avith a gift of insight so remarkable. The 
only clue they possessed was the knowledge they had 
acquired, that Mgr. Strambi had been in intimate re- 
lations with her ; but so closely at that time was the 
secret kept by those wdio knew her, that all their efforts 
failed. Amongst the guests at the prelate's table that 
day,' adds Natali, 'were his nephew, the Canon Antonio 
Muccioli, now dead, and Pietro Sterbini, also dead. 
All w^as fulfilled to the letter, of which Pietro Sterbini 
gave me a written attestation, but I -lost it during the 
last revolution.' 

Some time later the same prelate, then a cardinal, 
had several attacks of illness ; and, finall}^, one which at 
first gave no symptoms of any serious character, the 



HER INSIGHT INTO THE. STATE OF SOULS. 257 

Cardinal, indeed, expected to get well again speedily; 
but Anna Maria had seen his death in the sun, and, de- 
sirous that he should set his affairs in order while he 
was in a favourable state for doing so, she sent him a 
warning. He resigned himself, followed her advice, 
and died a few days afterwards. Anna Maria never 
availed herself of the interest she had with him save 
for the purpose of recommending a poor father of a 
family who^had come to her bewailing his destitution. 
She could not help him, for, indeed, she was herself 
poorer than he was ; but she caused him to be recom- 
mended in her name to Cardinal Cristaldi, who allowed 
him a monthly stipend as long as he lived. 

The following instance of her acquaintance with 
the state of souls in the case of persons whom she had 
never seen is related by the priest E^atali. * I knew,' he 
says, ' the Irish family of Eedington ; they lodged in 
an hotel in the Piazza del Popolo. The lady was pious, 
but of a stiff and haughty temper ; she recommended 
herself to my prayers. I informed Anna Maria, who 
was confined to her bed. She consulted the sun, and 
told me things which revealed the secret thoughts of 
this noble lady. I saw her afterwards just as she was' 
going out to an evening party. When she had heard 
what I said, she was struck with astonishment, and fell 
at my feet exclaiming " You are a saint ; all you have 
told me is perfectly true." I replied that I was no 
saint, but only the echo of a pious soul, who desired to 
remain unknown.' . Dr. Cullen,* now Bishop, entered 
at that moment, and so the conversation ended. The 
warning consisted in putting her on her guard against 
some suspicions which she harboured in her mind, 
and against a temptation to judge ill of her neighbour, 
* The present Cardinal Archbishop of Dublin. 

S 



258 V. ANNA, MARIA TAIGI. 

a temptation Tvhicli she was energetically to repel, in- 
stead of fostering. From that moment this lady con- 
ceived a great esteem for the servant of God, whom, 
however, she never personally knew. Anna Maria 
stood god-mother at Confirmation to one of her nieces.' 
We have yet to notice many recorded instances of 
her knowledge of distant or future events. Hitherto 
we have chiefly related those which manifest more pair- 
ticularly her acquaintance with the state q^ souls, but 
it is difficult, and not very essential, to divide these 
subjects with any degree of accuracy. 



CHAPTEE XVI. 

ANNA Maria's knowledge of the state of the dead 

AND OF THE APPROACH OF DEATH. 

We have already alluded to Anna Maria's know- 
ledge of the state of the departed, as revealed to her in 
the mysterious sun. When praying for a deceased 
person, she immediately saw his eternal destiny. If 
the soul was in Purgatory, it appeared, below the rays, 
symbolically represented by a heart that was soiled, or 
by a diamond that was deprived of its lustre ; and she 
perceived, with the utmost clearness, its sufferings, the 
reasons for which it suffered, and what would be the 
period of their duration ; her charity would then ad- 
dress itseK to abridge the time by prayer and penance. 
The image remained sufficiently long to enable her to 
comprehend the exact condition of the soul, and then 
gently sank and disappeared. But if the soul was 
already in possession of glory, it appeared under the 



HEU KNOWLEDGE OF THE STATE OF THE DEAD. 259 

figure of a shining heart, or a sparkling diamond ; it 
remained for a moment, during which the servant of 
God clearly understood, by a single look, the reward 
which it had received and the virtues which it had 
specially practised. The figure would then move a 
little, give forth a vivid splendour, and lose itself in 
the luminous disc. ]S"o other figures, as we have said, 
were ever seen to enter this centre of light, but seemed 
to be forcibly repelled when they approached it. Fi- 
nally, if the deceased were a lost soul, the rays of the 
sun parted asunder on the left side, and discovered a 
horrible cavern beneath, in which Anna Maria beheld 
the wretched soul, the reasons of its sentence, and the 
terrible pains it endured ; then in an instant, the dread- 
ful vision w^ould disappear amidst an awful shock of 
thunderings and lightnings, and the rays of the sun 
would close again. But she invariably refrained from 
specifying the persons whom she saw in this condition. 
Observing her silence on this point, the priest, her com- 
panion, said to her one day that the damned being 
deprived of charity, we could not offend charity by 
mentioning them; to which she replied that if the 
damned have no longer any claim upon our charity, 
their surviving relatives and friends are entitled to it, 
and to make such a revelation would be to cause them 
the deepest pain. 

* She constantly saw numbers of souls,' says the con- 
fessor, ' that were lost — persons of all stations, ecclesi- 
astical dignitaries of the highest rank, religious, nuns — 
all of whom, according to appearances, might have 
been believed to be in a state of salvation ; but the 
servant of God was very reserved on this point, and 
never named any one. One might conceive suspicions 
on observing her emotion or from some other symptom. 



260 V. A^'NA MARIA TAIGI. 

but none carried their curiosity so far as to question 
her with regard to the judgment of God in the case of 
condemned souls.' This same witness notices that she 
evidently thought it a bad sign, in such an epoch as 
that through which they were passing, when any one 
died possessed of large sums of money, particularly if 
he were an ecclesiastic. She also said that salvation 
was very difficult for those speculators who furnish the 
necessary articles of food, and who so often starve the 
people in order to enrich themselves. ^ 0, how dis- 
pleased,' he exclaims, ' was the servant of God with 
men of this class, she, whose heart was so filled with 
charity, especially towards the poor !' Her revelations 
respecting tbe state of different individual souls go 
strongl}' to prove this point (which, moreover, harmo- 
nises fully with the criterion of judgment which is 
alone mentioned by our Lord where He describes all 
nations as summoned before Him for their final sen- 
tence), namely, that nothing has more influence on our 
future condition than the exercise or non-exercise of 
fraternal charity and pity, and that charity truly avails 
to cover a multitude of sins : not, we need scarcely say, 
that acts of kindness and liberality atone for unrepented 
sin or avail to purchase Heaven, but because there is 
something in them which specially moves God to show 
mercy and grant more grace, and that effectual grace, 
while, in regard to those who are already in a state of 
acceptance, there is no fruit of grace dearer and more 
pleasing to the Heart of Him who is Essential Love. 

We will subjoin an instance or two in confirmation. 
Anna Maria was apprised of the salvation of a certain 
count, a man well known in his day. His life had 
been one of much self-indulgence, and he had dissipated 
his mind by a restless love of travelling ; in short, 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF THE STATE OF THE DEAD. 261 

there had been little externally to mark his being a 
Christian. ]>^evertheless he was saved, and she saw 
that the reason was that he had not only forgiven an 
enemy but had bestowed some benefit upon him. He 
was, however, to remain in Purgatory for as many 
years of suffering as he had passed useless ones on 
earth. A priest with whom she had been acquainted 
having died, she saw that he owed his salvation to 
having on one occasion done violence to himself and 
given a trifle to an importunate beggar ; this act of 
virtue (for an act of virtue it was, not a mere concession 
to importunity) bad been to him the principle of many 
other graces, whicli excited him to the performance of 
meritorious works. She saw his sufferings, and knew 
the tiuie they were to last. She also beheld the soul 
of the Duke Giovanni Torlonia, and knew that he was 
saved on account of the great works of beneficence 
which he had performed during his life. Eeing present 
at a solemn Requiem for an ecclesiastical dignitary, she 
saw, and also heard (for these visions were often ac- 
companied by audible locutions), that he received no 
benefit whatsoever from all that was being done for 
him, either in that church or elsewhere, but that the 
prayers and Masses were applied to poor beggars left in 
Purgatory without succour. It was revealed to her, 
however, that the soul of this great personage would 
be somewhat assisted when another Mass was offered 
for him; and that she herself would have to expiate 
for a long period certain faults of which he had been 
guilty. 

It seems clear that in the case of this ecclesiastic 
what hindered the application of the first suftrages 
offered for his soul was a certain hardness towards 
paupers : a fact wliich it is well to notice, as a cau- 



262 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

tion to ourselves, for, in the present day, mendicancy 
and the manner in which it ought to be met is a very 
perplexing question. Impostors abound, and street 
beggars are, to say the least, not the most deserving of 
their class, nor the greatest sufferers from want, who 
are ever to be found amongst the bashful and retiring 
poor. There lack not therefore good reasons for turn- 
ing a deaf ear to importunate rec^uests for relief, and 
certainly discretion and well-ordered charity aUke for- 
bid indiscriminate almsgiving; yet if, under the shadow 
of these reasons, or pretexts, for refusal, a hard spirit 
of unconcern is being fostered in our bosoms, — if we 
find that we are contracting a cold dislike to the voice 
appealing to us for pity, and a disposition to pass a 
sweeping judgment on all beggars and vagrants, as 
though by a kind of necessary consequence they be- 
longed to the class of thieves and impostors, or, at any 
rate, had no title to commiseration, as having probably 
brought misery on themselves by their vices, so that 
rags and wretchedness are becoming offensive in our 
eyes, — it is to be feared that we are beginning to fall 
into great danger of a prolonged Purgatory, to say no 
more : a danger compared with which the risk of inju- 
diciously giving a few coins to some unworthy object 
is a matter of little consequence. 

The following are examples of other faults which 
Anna Maria saw punished in Purgatory. She saw an 
ecclesiastic who had enjoyed a high reputation, while 
living, for his activity, his zeal, and his eloquent preach- 
ing cruelly tormented in Purgatory because, instead of 
seeking purely the glory of God, he had been ambitious 
of being reckoned a great orator, and had not divested 
himself of self-love. A layman, who was a friend of 
her own and who died vdth the credit of bein^ an ex- 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF THE STATE OP THE DEAD. 263 

cellent Christian, she saw condemned to great suffer- 
ings for having cultivated too assiduously the friend- 
ship of influential persons, and for having on the other 
hand never deliberately faced the contempt of the 
world. These revelations (we may observe by the way) 
throw a strong light upon our incapacity to form any 
correct judgment either of a person's spiritual state or 
of the degree of merit that attaches to acts externally 
good. Along with an inclination to rash judgments in 
the way of censure, nothing pcirhaps is more common 
than a readiness to canonise or, at any rate, send straight 
to Heaven the souls of those whose Christian virtues 
we have had near occasions of appreciating and admir- 
ing. Yet Anna Maria saw in Purgatory the soul of 
one of her friends who had enjoyed supernatural lights, 
because she had not kept silence as she ought, and be- 
cause she had not faithfully used the gifts she had 
received. She also saw two Keligious of her acquaint- 
ance sentenced to Purgatory. The first, who had died 
in the odour of sanctity, had been too much attached 
to his own judgment. The second, who had left behind 
him a high reputation as a spiritual director, had dur- 
ing his latter years associated too freely with the world, 
under the pretext, and, indeed, from the motive, of 
exercising his ministry with greater efficiency : a con- 
descension, doubtless, regarded by his admirers as a 
proof of zeal and active charity rather than a fault. 
Had he observed more strictly the requirements of 
community life, Anna Maria said he ivould not have 
died so soon. Amongst other instances of her know- 
ledge of the causes which detained souls in Purgatory 
Natali mentions that P. Giovanni of the Visitation, 
Superior General of theDiscalced Trinitarians, had told 
him more than once that, having heard of the death 



264 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

of his father, lie apprised Anna [Maria, vrith. the view 
of obtaining the benefit of her prayers for him. She 
informed P. Giovanni that his father ^vas in Purgatory, 
and specified the reasons for which he Tvas there de- 
tained ; describing exactly the employment he had 
held while living, and the nature of his occiij^ations in 
minutest detail. And yet P. Giovanni had never so 
much as told her what was his father's condition in 
life; and anyhow it was Cjiiite impossible that she could 
by natural means have become cognisant of all the par- 
ticulars which she mentioned. 

She had also visions of souls which passed straight 
to glory. She saw a Capuchin Brother whom she knew 
well, Fra Felice of Montefiascone, transported from 
his bed of death to Heaven, and beheld his blessed 
soul, all resplendent with the most ardent charity, 
occupying one of the highest thrones among the Sera- 
phim. A priest named Eoberti, Superior of the Con- 
gregation of the Mission, was taken ill, and earnestly 
desired to depart, that he might be united to God. 
AVhenever Cardinal Pedicini visited him, the sick man 
would beg him to incjuire of the servant of God how 
Uiuch more time he had to spend on earth. He be- 
lieved his death to be imminent, and hoped it would 
occur on a particular day which he specified ; but Anna 
Maria commissioned the Cardinal to tell him that his 
time was not yet come. ^Yhen the day so much longed 
for at last arrived, she beheld in the mysterious sun 
the soul of this holy priest fly direct to Heaven. She 
also heard the praises of his hidden vhtues, which 
God manifested to her. She had previously seen a 
young priest named Polchi, also a Lazarist Father, pass 
likewise straight from this present life to a high 
place in glory, — as well as a lay brother . of the Ob- 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF THE STATE OF THE DEAD. 265 

servantines Minor, whom she beheld assisted in his 
passage by the Blessed Virgin. P. Rossini, of the Com- 
pany of Jesus, a prefect of novices, caused one of their 
number named Yalori, lately deceased, to be recom- 
mended to the prayers of the servant of God. Anna 
Maria replied that the beautiful soul of this youth had 
gone straight to Paradise ; an announcement at which 
P. Eossini, who was well acquainted wdth the young 
novice's virtues, was by no means surprised. 

We may here allude to the manner in which Anna 
Maria became first known to this Jesuit Father. At 
one time she was in the habit of frequenting San An- 
drea, the church of the Jesuit noviciate, where the 
prefect noticed her modest behaviour and deep recollec- 
tion. Probably he made inquiries which led to his 
speaking of her to the priest who accompanied her, 
whom he begged to recommend to her prayers a sick 
brother, named Marcelli, who was much depressed in 
mind, in consequence, it was supposed, of a distressing 
malady with which he was af&icted. Anna Maria read- 
ily consented, and soon informed the priest that it w^as 
not his bodily malady which was the chief cause of 
the Brother's suffering, but interior spiritual pains ; 
and, in fact, Brother Marcelli confessed that so it was, 
and was much relieved by the message which she sent 
him. This incident had the effect of increasing P. 
Rossini's esteem for the servant of God, and, being 
very devout to St. Joseph, a few days before the Peast 
of his Patronage he asked J^Tatali to beg this pious 
woman to recommend the interests of the Company to 
that great saint. Anna Maria accordingly offered some 
special devotions for that intention ; and on the evening 
of the Feast of the Patronage of St. Joseph she saw the 
entire Company at one glance in the mysterious sun, in 



266 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

such a manner that she could have described its several 
members scattered over all countries, their houses, their 
condition, the progress they were making, and what- 
ever concerned the Order, as regarded both the present 
and the future. * I remember,' says D. Eaffaele, * that 
on this occasion she again saw (for she had had pre- 
vious revelations of a similar character) the persecu- 
tions, as unjust as they are violent, to which in these 
latter times the Company has been subjected/ 

One day Anna Maria, having gone to confession to a 
Trinitarian Eeligious, P. Fernando of San Luigi,told him 
that the General of the Trinitarians who was in Spain, 
at that time invaded by the French armies under Mas- 
sena, had been surprised by the enemy in ISTew Castile, 
when on his road accompanied by one of the brethren, 
and, after much ill-usage, had been put to death by 
them along with his companion. She also described 
minutely the street in the neighbouring city to which 
they had been led, and where their martyrdom was 
completed. She added that, having borne all their 
sufferings, and death itself, for the love of God, their 
souls had flown straight to Heaven. The Father was 
much surprised at this piece of information, and ac- 
quainted his brethren with it. A month later, letters 
from Spain confirmed what Anna Maria had told him 
respecting the massacre, and the Community, seeigg 
the full accomplishment of the first portion of her 
announcement, entertained no doubt as to the truth of 
the second ; namely, that the souls of these two Re- 
ligious were in glory. 

She saw the state after death of several exalted 
personages who had played a conspicuous part on the 
world's stage in her time ; amongst others the Czar of 
Eussia, Alexander I. Count Alexander I\Iichau(l, a 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF THE STATE OF THE DEAD. 267 

native of Nice, and aide-de-camp to tlie Eussian Em- 
peror, to whom lie was w^armly attached, having gone 
to Eome for a Jubilee granted by Leo XII., heard dur- 
ing his residence a vague report of the death of the 
Czar, founded probably on his then ill state of health. 
He hastened to the liussian embassy, where he was 
assured that the news was utterly false, and had pro- 
bably been put about by the * liberals,' for that late 
dispatches did not even allude to any such rumour. 
Michaud, still uneas}', went to see Queen Maria Teresa 
of Sardinia, the Avidow of King Victor Emmanuel I. 
Erom her he received the like assurances. Her recent 
letters from Vienna made no reference to th ^ matter. 
All this seemed thoroughly satisfactory, but the Count 
was apparently possessed by a kind of sad presentiment, 
and, speaking of the report to a friend, he was advised 
by him to go and consult a poor woman who had a 
great reputation for sanctity. This was Anna Maria. 
Michaud had no sooner stated his apprehension to her 
than she told him that the news was too true. He 
urged that the dispatches at the Eussian embassy, and 
recent letters from Vienna received by the Queen of 
Sardinia, contained nothing which lent any support to 
the rumour afloat ; but she added, without hesitation, 
^ To-morrow the Russian embassy will receive the of- 
ficial communication of the Emperor's death.' In- 
quiries at the embassy the next morning proved that 
her prediction was true : Alexander was dead. Mi- 
chaud was an excellent Catholic, and Anna Maria con- 
soled him much by telling him that the Emperor had 
died in the true faith, and had been reconciled to the 
Church ; and that she had seen his soul in Purgatory. 
She had also seen the causes of his death, and said that 
he owed his salvation to having shown mercy to his 



268 V. ANXA MARIA TAIGI. 

neighbour, reverencGcl tlie Sovereign Pontiff, the Yicar 
of Jesus Christ, and protected the Catholic Churcli ; 
in reward for which God had given him grace and 
light to discern and embrace the truth. The Count, 
speaking in after years of this revelation, averred that 
he had heard on good authority that a Cardinal, in 
celebrating Mass, had mentioned the Emperor Alex- 
ander by name in his ' memento' for the dead. His 
chaplain overheard him, and, attributing it to a distrac- 
tion, delicately reminded liim, on his descending from 
the altar, that that prince was a schismatic ; but the 
Cardinal replied that he knew very well what he was 
about. Michaud did not say who this Cardinal was, 
but, if the anecdote be authentic, we may conclude that 
the prelate had derived his information from the same 
source. Circumstances have in late years become known 
which have confirmed the truth of Anna Maria's asser- 
tion that Alexander became a Catholic before his death. 
It was an event sure to be sedulously concealed, and 
the Emperor's complete seclusion,^ at a distance from 
the capital, in the closing days of his life would at 
once facilitate his secret reception into the Church and 
enable those about him to withhold the fact from ptiblic 
knowledge. 

In addition to his grief at the loss of his sovereign 
Count Midland felt considerable solicitude respecting 
his own prospects. He had many enemies at Court, 

* The circnmstance of this sin.cfnlar sechision is related bv 
Von Grimm in his Life of Alexandra Feodoroicna, Empress of 
Bussia. The Russian correspondent of the Tablet, May 3d, 
1873, says, that the holy woman cei-tainly sjDoke the tmth about 
Alexander I. ; and he also mentions a prediction attributed to 
her (we know not on what authority) as widely known and be- 
lieved among the people, although coming from a Catholic, viz. 
that Russia is to play a gi^eat part in Italy at an early date. 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF THE STATE OF THE DEAD. 269 

and- had reason to dread the effects of their intrigues in 
damaging his position under a new reign. On the 
other hand, being a sufferer from gout, he hesitated to 
undertake a journey to Petersburg in the depth of 
winter. Anna Maria assured him that he had nothing 
to fear ; that his journey would be prosperous ; that 
he would be well received by the Emperor ; and that, 
instead of afflicting and disquieting himself, he had 
reason to regard his future with hope and satisfaction. 
Observing the poverty of the family, Michaud was an- 
xious to relieve their distress, but he at once perceived 
that any offer of the kind would only cause her pain 
and would certainly "be declined. He then betook him- 
self to her confidant, and pressed him to accept some 
alms for the poor of Eome, with whom, as he signifi- 
cantly said, he must be well acquainted. This device 
also failed ; so at last he begged him to say six Masses 
for his intention, at the same time giving him the sum 
of six scudi. ' It was I,' says the confessor, ' w^ho cele- 
brated these Masses, and the servant of God directed 
the money to be bestowed on a poor father of a family.' 
The grateful offfcer, on reaching iN^ice, sent a barrel of 
excellent oil to the pious woman, who he knew kept 
wellnigh a perpetual fast. All turned out on his return 
to Kussia precisely as she had predicted. The Czar re- 
ceived him most kindly, and at once conferred' on him 
the rank of Lieutenant General, a promotion far above 
his expectations, coupled with a good stipend. The 
General wrote to D. Eaffaele requesting him to thank 
the servant of God, to whose prayers he attributed his 
unlooked-for good fortune. His letter has been pre- 
served.* He was also desirous of placing her in com- 

* The facts we have related ahove were told by General 
Michaud to the Bishop of Aqui, who met him in the year 1825 



270 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

munication with one of his friends, a person of exalted 
rank, but this she declined o*n the plea of ill-health. 

The state of the soul of Leo XI L was also made 
known to Anna Maria. At the time of that Pope's 
last sickness, early one morning she saw in her sun the 
catafalque prepared for him, and heard the voice of her 
Divine Spouse saying, * Arise and pray : My Vicar is 
on the point of coming to render an account to Me.' 
Some years later, while speaking of him, she saw his 
soul appear beneath the sun, at the edge of its rays, 
under the form of a magnificent ruby, which as yet 
lacked in part its full lustre : as she gazed, it sank 
slowly and disappeared. 

She was frequently apprised of the approaching 
death of persons. As we have already remarked, she 
could always know by means of her sun everything 
she desired to know ; but, although this knowledge was 
always at her disposal, she acted entirely by the divine 
movement. God, however, would make things known 
to her when He pleased, and when she was not seeking 
to know them. We will here give a few examples of 
her prescience of coming death. One day, meeting a 
lawyer near the Chigi palace, she betrayed signs of 
emotion ; and on her companion, Don Eaffaele, asking 
her the cause, she answered v/ith sadness that this 
man would die that very night of a fit of apoplexy; as 



or 1826, in the Capuchin Convent of St. Bartholomew at Nice, 
as he states in his deposition. They were also well known to 
the confidential priest. The Bishop of Aqui's account is given 
in the Analecta Juris Pontificii, vol. ii. part ii. p. 1977. The 
prelate there states that it was not till later that he ascertained, 
from seeing a letter (unquestionahly the one alluded to above), 
that the pious woman to whom Michaud referred was Anna 
Maria Taigi. 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF APPROACHING DEATH. 271 

in fact he did. We have just alluded to her knowledge 
of the imminent death of Leo XII. ; and we have a 
parallel instance in the case of Pius YIII. She saw 
in the mysterious sun the catafalque prepared for his 
obsequies, surmounted by the tiara. He had been in- 
disposed for some time, and Anna Maria, who had 
already foreseen his death, had been praying for him 
during several months. At the time she saw this 
vision, he seemed, however, to be recovering from a 
recent illness, and his state inspired no apprehensions. 
That very evening the priest, her confidant, went to 
see the Marchese Carlo Bandini, who was acquainted 
with Anna Maria's great gifts, and was then residing 
at the Quirinal, where he held an office of trust. He 
apprised that nobleman of what she had told him, and 
Eandini informed Cardinal Pedicini, who expressed 
much surprise ; but, as he knew well from experience 
that Anna Maria's communications were always verified, 
he felt no doubt but that the event would justify her 
prescience on this occasion also. Pius YIII. died a 
few days afterwards. She had also foretold the coming 
death of Pius YII. under somewhat similar circum- 
stances ; that is, when no one about him believed his 
departure to be immediate. While praying for him, 
she had perceived that his malady was incurable, and 
that he was hurrying rapidly into eternity. She was 
thus the means of securing for him the reception of the 
Last Sacraments; for through her usual envoy she con- 
veyed an intimation of his danger to the Quirinal, 
which was promptly attended to, for we have already 
seen in what high estimation the servant of God was 
held by Pius YII., as she was also by his successors. 

One day, when Xatali and the servant of God were 
walking together, thoy met Cardinal Marazzani going 



272 V. ANNA MAHIA TAIGI. 

in state to St. Peter's after his promotion, according to 
custom. ' I told Anna Maria/ he says, ^ to look at the 
procession ; she cast an eye on her sun, and replied, 
*^ To-day great pomp ; in a month the tomb.'' ' And, in 
fact, the Cardinal was buried a month afterwards. She 
also announced the death of Mgr. Strambi. Leo XII. 
had fallen seriously ill after his election. Eome was 
full of anxiety on his account, fearing to lose a Pontiff 
who had so lately seated himself on the throne of Peter. 
Those about him shared the general apprehension, 
which was greatly increased towards the close of the 
year 1824, for the end seemed too plainly at hand. 
When Leo's time on earth might to all appearance be 
reckoned by hours, not days, Mgr. Strambi sent some 
one to Anna Maria with a request that she would pray 
fervently for the dying Pope. She w^as engaged in the 
kitchen when the prelate's messenger arrived ; and 
after glancing at her sun she answered, smiling, * iN'o, 
no, the Pope is not going ; he has still time left to 
labour for the good of the Church ; but you may tell 
Monsignore that it is he who ought to prepare to die.' 
Mgr. Strambi' s envoy replied that the prelate was quite 
well. Then she gravely said, ' 1 assure you that a few 
days hence Monsignore will lie exposed in the church.' 
The Christmas festivals were at that time being cele- 
brated, and the body of Mgr. Strambi was actually ex- 
posed in the church of the Passionists early in January, 
he having expired on the second of that month by an 
apoplectic stroke. His -sudden illness had deprived 
him of speech and of the use of his faculties, to the 
great distress of the good Fathers, who were thus un- 
able to administer the sacraments to him. They were 
anxiously on the watch for an interval of returning 
consciousness, but had begun to lose all hope, as they 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF APPROACHING DEATH. 273 

saw their sick brother sinking, and death rapidly ap- 
proaching. ^ I frequently entered his room,' says D. 
Eaffaele, ' and, beholding him in this state, I felt my- 
self moved to go and beg Anna Maria to entreat the 
Divine Goodness to grant him the favour of being able 
to receive Communion.' The priest found her sitting 
before her table in the act of knitting a stocking, and 
remembered well how that, upon hearing his request, 
she laid down her work, rested her elbows on the table, 
and, burying her face in her hands, prayed for a few 
moments ; then, after looking upv/ards, she turned her 
eyes towards him, and bade him warn the assistant 
priest to begin Mass for him at dawn; for that, al- 
though he would leave him in a state of unconscious- 
ness, yet at the Introit the dying man would revive, 
with his mind perfectly clear, so that he would be able 
to receive the Viaticum, and would even have sufficient 
time to make his thanksgiving, but that he would then 
relapse into his lethargy, from which he would pass to 
eternal rest. The priest hastened back to the house of 
the Passionists, and all was literally accomplished as 
she had predicted. Thus departed this holy man, 
w^hom the Church has pronounced Venerable ; never- 
theless the confessor tells us that Anna Maria saw his 
soul in Purgatory and knew the reasons of his deten- 
tion ] she also beheld him afterwards ascend to glory. 
There is a very interesting circumstance attending 
Mgr. Strambi's death which must not be omitted. 
Leo XII. had permitted him, in 1823, to resign his 
bishopric, as had long been the object of his desire, 
and wished him to come and live at the Quirinal, 
where the Pope himself resided. When the illness of 
Leo XII. had become so serious as to threaten his im- 
mediate death, Mgr. Strambi, while celebrating Mass, 

T 



274 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

offered his own life to prolong that of the Pontiff. 
Full of faith, the prelate afterwards told those who 
assisted at his Mass that God had accepted his offer; 
and, in fact, it was immediately upon this that the 
Pope, who seemed about to enter on his agony, ral- 
lied in a w^onderfnl manner, while his generous friend 
was shortly struck down, as we have related, by an 
apoplectic stroke. 

Yv^e will add a few more instances of Anna Maria's 
prevision of death. ' While I was Secretary to the 
Maestro di Camera of his Holiness,' says D. Eaffaele, 
* a Eussian consul, named Ponteves, came to see me, 
with his wife and a little boy, whose name was Alex- 
ander. He had some business in hand, and had come 
to beg an audience of Leo XII. in reference to it, Anna 
Maria, who had observed them, said to me, " This poor 
family will be entirely destroyed in an instant of time;" ' 
and, in fact, they all perished shortly afterwards by 
shipwreck on the coast of Italy. Again, the son of a 
large farmer in the neighbourhood of Eome, belonging 
to a class known as ' mercanti di campagna,' was at- 
tacked by a dangerous illness, and his two aunts came 
to recommend him to Anna Maria. She was silent for 
a moment, then, looking at her sun, she said, ^ You 
need not fear this time ; but bear in mind that five 
years hence this young man will have a fall from his 
horse, and will be borne to his house half-dead and 
unable to speak. Then invoke with faith the Holy 
!N"ame of Jesus, and he will recover the use of his 
tongue', but you must see that he makes his confession 
without delay and procure the Last Sacraments for 
him, for he wdll die shortly after; the inward com- 
plaint under which he labours will render his recovery 
impossible.' Pive years afterwards the young man fell 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF APPROACHING DEATH. 275 

from his horse; one of liis aunts was already dead, but 
the survivor had never forgotten the warning she had 
received. She promptly invoked the Holy l^ame, — 
and her nephew instantly recovered his speech ; he' 
made his confession, received the Viaticum and Ex- 
treme Unction, and then passed into eternity. A me- 
dical examination of the body proved the existence of 
an internal complaint such as AnnaMaria had specified. 
Maria Luisa, Queen of Etruria, but at the time of 
which we are speaking Duchess of Lucca, fell ill at 
Eome. Mgr. Strambi and Mgr. Sala interested them- 
selves greatly for her cure. They proposed a triduo to 
St. John and St. Paul, and exhorted the patient to beg 
the special intercession of the Venerable (now Saint) 
Paul of the Cross, founder of the Passionists. The 
triduo was accordingly celebrated with much solemnity, 
and the two prelates were full of hope, which some 
little improvement in the queen's condition seemed also 
to warrant. At the commencement of the triduo Mgr. 
Strambi charged Anna Maria's confidant to obtain her 
prayers and inquire what opinion she had formed and 
-what lights she had received with regard to this ill- 
ness. She answered with frankness and simplicity 
that Monsignore ought not to bestir himself so much in 
the matter, for that both he and his founder would 
' make but a sorry figure.' But Mgr. Strambi was not 
easily discouraged. ^ I went to see him for several 
consecutive days,' says ^N'atali. * The accounts of the 
queen being pretty good, he would say to me, smiling, 
*' Maria Luisa is better still to-day, you see; tell Anna 
Maria so." I replied, " I am very glad to hear it, and wish 
she may obtain this cure." Suddenly the patient had 
a relapse, and danger of death became imminent. Her 
attendants did not venture to tell her that she must 



276 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

make ready for her passage to eternity ; "but as they 
knew the great esteem in which the queen held Anna 
Maria, they sent a carriage for her, entreating her to 
come at once. Anna Maria went immediately to the 
sick princess, and, using all kind discretion, told her 
she must prepare for death, at the same time exhorting 
her to submit to the will of God and to place all her 
confidence in Him. She also reminded her to set her 
temporal affairs in order. All this came unexpectedly 
on the queen ; she had been buoyed up with the hopes 
of recovery, and it cost her something to resign herself 
to die. She did, however, resign herself, and had also 
time to make her will. When Mgr. Strambi heard of 
the queen's imminent danger,' adds D. Eaffaele, ' he 
exclaimed in my presence, ''Ah, if I had but hearkened 
to Anna Maria !" ' 

The same witness relates what took place in the 
case of Lady Clifford's illness and death. Her father 
and husband, as also Cardinal Weld, were making the 
most strenuous efforts to save her life by obtaining the 
prayers of holy persons in her behalf. D. Eaffaele was 
acquainted with them, and recommended the sick lady 
to the prayers of Anna Maria. She looked at her sun, 
and told him that God willed to take her to Himself, 
because in her youth she had made, a vow (of which 
her father, mother, and confessor alone were cognisant), 
and this vow He had accepted. D. Eaffaele vfas him- 
self the bearer of this reply to the Cardinal, who was 
exceedingly struck by it, and begged his permission to 
communicate it to Lord Clifford. ISTothing could ex- 
ceed the astonishment of the latter at the manifesta- 
tion of a thing so secret, and he acknowledged that 
God alone could have revealed it. He begged D. Eaf- 
faele to make him acquainted Avith the servant of God, 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF APPROACHING DEATH. 277 

coupling his request with the most generous pecuniary 
offers. Undiscouraged by a first refusal, he sought 
another interview with Anna Maria's confidant, accom- 
panied by his own confessor, when he again urged his 
desire to assist this holy woman, on whom he wished 
to settle a regular allowance. " When ^atali communi- 
cated this message to her she said, ^ I need not his 
.oney ; let us place our trust in God.' It so happened 
that at this very time Anna Maria was sufi'ering from 
extreme indigence, but, in spite of all the steps that 
were taken by the relatives of Lady Clifford, and all 
their entreaties, she adhered to her determination of 
keeping herself concealed. Lady Clifford died, as she 
had predicted, and Lord Clifford subsequently appeared 
among the witnesses and gave his testimony to the 
facts we have related. 

Cardinal Galefii and Cardinal Weld both fell ill at 
the same time, and were recommended to the prayers 
of the pious woman. Cardinal Galeffi's illness was very 
serious, while that of the other Cardinal appeared to be 
of a slighter character. But Anna Maria, after giving 
a look at her sun, immediately said that Cardinal Weld 
would die, but that Cardinal Galefii might recover, if 
he would be very careful of his diet during his con- 
valescence, and if he w^ould for the future give up 
visiting convents for the purpose of direction. 8he 
foretold that this fatigue, iif renewed, would cause a 
relapse, and that his malady would then be incurable. 
When Cardinal Galefii was made acquainted with this 
reply, he abstained from inquiring the name of the 
person from \Vhom it came, but he was desirous, at 
least, of knowing if she was poor, in order that he 
miglit send her some alms. This offer was dccHned, 
as it always was on such occasions. He did not profit. 



278 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

however, by the caution given him, and had very 
shortly a serious relapse, which in the course of a 
few days terminated in death. As for Cardinal Weld, 
Anna Maria had never seen him ; she was at tliis 
time confined permanently to her bed ; she, however, 
accurately described his features, comj^lexion, and man- 
ners, adding to the person with whom she was speak- 
ing, and who purposed proceeding to inquire after him, 
*Go. you will find him at the point of death; he is 
dying without being assisted by his Jesuit father.' 
This proved to be perfectly correct, and the Cardinal 
shortly expired. 

One of the highest among the Pope's Camerieri, 
who at that time was very rich and advantageously 
connected, desired to know the servant of God. He 
began by saying that many good persons, of acknow- 
ledged sanctity, had announced to him that he, in 
concert with the Holy Father, would do great 
things for the Church. It may be presumed that this 
individual was seeking a confirmation of these flatter- 
ing vaticinations ; but Anna Maria remained silent. 
Pressed to speak, she answered, wdth her usual sin- 
cerity, ' I know that God wills to chastise some fami- 
lies severely, because they have not been faithful in 
acquitting themselves of their functions and fulfilling 
the obligations of their state. ' She then warned her 
visitor to prepare soon to die, together with his wife, 
and predicted that his family would be entirely de- 
stroyed before the end of the calamities, alluding to 
the military occupation of Eome by the Prench. The 
wife sank fjrst, and the husband follcAved, after be- 
coming bankrupt and witnessing the ruin of his whole 
family. 

Anna Maria's confessor said to her one day, ' Pray 



HEE KNOWLEDGE OF APPBOACHING DEATH. 279 

mucli for Spain ; my father is at the Court, and I fear 
that he may fall into great troubles.' She complied, 
but her answer was far from consoling. She told P. 
Filippo that his father would die during the troubles ; 
that all Spain would revolt, and that he himself would 
see what would be the end of the head of that nation. 
Shortly after, the confessor's father died, the Eevolu- 
tion broke out in Spain, and the dethroned monarch 
came to finish his days at Eome. 

Upon another occasion, her confessor asked her 
prayers in favour of a noble family ; but she told him 
that her Lord had made her this reply : ' My dear 
daughter, this family must suffer. It will be destroyed, 
and its head will die a terrible death.' Much distressed, 
the confessor bade her pray anew with great fervour, 
but all was in vain, for again the Lord renewed His 
declaration in her hearing. 'It is useless,' He said; 
* they must be extirpated on account of their sins, and 
you will see the death of their head, as you have been 
told.' The unhappy man did, indeed, endure death, 
as it were twice over. Condemned to be shot, he w^as 
taken to the place of execution, which his companion, 
standing by his side, underwent. His sentence was 
then and there commuted into perpetual imprison- 
ment ; and he died soon after. ' I should never finish,' 
says the confessor, after recording many of the won- 
derful revelations made to her, ' if I w^ere to relate all 
that concerns this mysterious sun. Who could re- 
member and state all that has taken place during half 
a century? Yet a glance sufficed her to see a thing, 
discern all it^ circumstances, foresee all its results and 
final issue. And, in fact, whether it were living per- 
sons she met, or corpses being borne to the church, 
you might see her sometimes mournful, sometimes 



280 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

joyous, sometimes restraining her tears, according to 
what she beheld concerning them in her sun.' 

We conclude these instances of her prevision of 
death witli a case in Avhich, it is to be feared, she saw 
something worse than the death of the body ; but, as 
we have said, she was silent on such occasions, and 
nothing could be known with certainty, although her 
sadness might suggest a painful suspicion. Her prayers 
were requested for a poor man who had been struck 
the previous day with apoplexy; he had entirely 
lost his speech, and it was hoped that she might be 
able to obtain by her prayers and penances that he 
should at least recover the power of utterance, in 
order that he might set his affairs in order and re- 
ceive the sacraments. This man was one Avho had 
treated Anna Maria mth contempt ; which with her 
was only an additional reason for prayer in his behalf. 
His wife begged her to send the little Madonna which, 
as we have said, the servant of God wore round her 
neck, and which had worked many miracles. But the 
heavenly voice said to her, ' He who despised thee 
during life cannot have thee at his death ; and he 
who does not approach the sacraments, and cares not 
for them during life, shall be deprived of them at 
death.' Before hearing this locution, she had, indeed, 
seen all in the mysterious sun ; and what she saw had 
evidently saddened her, for she replied, ' It is useless 
for me to send the little Madonna.' The man died 
that very evening; and Anna Maria knew the moment 
of his soul's departure and, no doubt, had learned his 
eternal destiny. 



281 



CHAPTEE XVIT. 

ANNA Maria's knowledge of things in the natural 

ORDER AND OF FUTURE EVENTS. 

Anna Maria in her mysterious sun possessed a 
mirror in which, she beheld, not only all the secrets of 
the moral and religious order, but of the natural and 
physical also. She was sparing, however, in her use of 
this knowledge, profiting by it only when occasion 
arose. Yet she might have cleared up, we are assured, 
every intricate or obscure point in histor}^, whether 
sacred or profane, ancient or modern; fof the past, 
with all its multitudinous events, was to her as the 
present ; time and space seemed annihilated in her re- 
gard. She saw the bottom of seas and lakes, and of 
the fathomless ocean ; she penetrated the heights of 
heaven, and saw into the abysses of the earth, as clearly 
as she discerned the four walls of her room. As an 
example of her possession of this kind of knowledge, 
we may mention that when some speculators had un- 
dertaken to explore the bed of Lake l!^emi, having, as 
they believed, reason to hope that antique treasures of 
art would be discovered therein, on the subject being 
mentioned before Anna Maria, she glanced at her sun 
and saw at once that they were wasting their money 
and their efforts in a fruitless search. ' They will find 
nothing there,' she said ; and in point of fact the ex- 
plorers found absolutely nothing at the bottom of the 
lake. Often, when she beheld in her sun inundations, 
earthquakes, conflagrations, and other calamities me- 
nacing Kome, she succeeded by her prayers and peni- 
tential acts in averting these scourges ; but sometimes 
the divine decrees were irreversible on account of 



282 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

special sins. She saw the burning of the Basilica of 
San Paolo several months before it took place, while 
praying before the Holy Crucifix; and she knew by 
revelation that God permitted this disaster in punish- 
ment for profanations that had been committed there. 
The voice said, ' I will make of this place a heap of 
ruins ;' and in this instance her fervent prayers were 
unavailing. She was continually beholding in her sun 
conflagrations, storms, earthquakes, and other convul- 
sions of nature, as well as thousands of symbolical figures, 
to which she gave no particular heed, unless our Lord 
vouchsafed her an explanation, or she was divinely 
moved to inquire. ' The conversion of sinners was 
what interested her,' says her confessor. Whatever 
had reference thereto, or to the general good of the 
Church and of Christendom, never failed to arrest her 
attention. It was with these subjects that her voca- 
tion was concerned, and to these she was therefore 
especially drawn. Yet it was marvellous to see how 
her compassionate charity would lead her to place her 
supernatural knowledge at the disposal of persons who 
came to inquire about what might be regarded as 
trifling things, though they were not trifling in their 
estimation. The following passage from the confessor's 
deposition sets this in a conspicuous light. 

' ]^[ot withstanding her desire,' he says, ' to remain 
in obscurity, she was generally unable to abstain from 
taking a part or interesting herself in affairs of high 
importance which were recommended to her through 
the medium of one of her spiritual sons, or by some 
other person who had succeeded in ascertaining some- 
thing about her. ^Tevertheless the fly and the camel, 
the flea and the elephant, were alike to her. I mean 
that she occupied herself indifferently with great af- 



HEK KNOWLEDGE OF NATURAL THINGS. 283 

fairs or small, for she saw them all with equal clear- 
ness in the mysterious sun. ... It was. truly wonderful 
to hear and see her comforting some poor woman Avho 
was complaining of want because the trade she carried 
on with her poultry was not prospering, and who was 
unable to make her livelihood because her hens would 
not lay as usual ; with the greatest kindness and par- 
ticularity she would instruct the poor woman how to 
manage her hens, and a moment after, would turn her 
attention to some serious affair, some delicate and com- 
plicated business, which, however, was of no greater 
moment in her eyes than the poor woman's hens. To 
both she addressed herself with the same facility and 
promptness.' Both were, indeed, equally easy to her, 
but to her charitable and sympathetic heart the trou- 
bles of the poor and the lowly made the tenderest 
appeal. In cases of sickness, for instance, P. Filippo 
tells us, ' she prayed equally for the fruit-seller, the 
carter's wife, and the princess, but her fervour and 
charity were greatest where the sufferers were the poor 
of Christ.' 

In praying for a sick person, she immediately saw 
in her sun the nature of the complaint, the possibilities 
of cure, the remedies which ought to be used, as well 
as the reasons for which God had sent the malady. 
Her friends, and particularly her spiritual children, 
were always running to consult her when they were 
suffering from indisposition. Her prudence and humi- 
lity would lead her on such occasions to advise the 
applicant to see a doctor ; if she afterwards found that 
the doctor had understood the complaint she said no 
more, but if he was mistaken in Lis opinion or the 
advice he gave, then she would say, ^ My child, just 
try such or such a remedy; your complaint is so and 



284 , V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

so;' and she would explain naturally and simply the 
treatment which ought to be followed. Eut although 
she might advise recurrence to further medical aid, her 
spiritual sons had such implicit confidence in her dis- 
cernment, that when once they had got her to prescribe 
for them they were certain to desire nothing further. 
She might in all cases have cured them instan- 
taneously by the touch of her hand, but she was wont to 
say that we must be content with ordinary remedies 
when they are procurable, and have recourse to what is 
miraculous only in cases of necessity. By these ordi- 
nary remedies, which, however, she knew, by a super- 
natural science, she effected many cures. Her son-in- 
law brought a youth to her who had long suffered from 
a troublesome and exhausting complaint. The doctors 
could do nothing for him. Anna Maria looked at her 
sun, and knew in a moment what was the proper 'me- 
dicine j she insisted on preparing it herself, and gave 
it to the poor boy, who took it for three days and re- 
turned to her on the fourth to announce his perfect 
recovery. An only child, who had fallen dangerously 
ill, and whose parents, in addition to their grief at his 
death, would have had to regret the loss of a valuable 
succession, was recommended to her prayers. She 
immediately knew the nature of his malady, and indi- 
cated a remedy of a very simple nature, but she saw at 
the same time that the doctors, who did not understand 
the case, would refuse to try her prescription, and that 
the child would in consequence die. The confessor, 
who relat-es this circumstance, adds, ' And this actually 
occurred, although the doctors were very clever men 
and eminent in their profession.' If the doctors allowed 
this child to die by rejecting, in their ignorance, an 
effectual remedy, we have in- the following instance a 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF NATURAL THINGS. 285 

case in wliicli they shortened the days of one who pre- 
ferred, to follow their mistaken advice to abiding by the 
recommendation of the servant of God. Duke Yin- 
cenzo Lanti was suffering from the stone ; and the con- 
fessor of Anna Maria commended him to her prayers. 
.She sent the following reply: ^ Let the dnke beware 
of allowing the operation to be performed, for he will 
die of it; but if he does not undergo it, he will live for 
some time longer.' But the duke, choosing to attend 
to his medical advisers, submitted to the operation, and 
died the following day. 

Although Anna Maria often effected a cure by her 
knowledge of the natural properties of things, Ave do 
not reckon these among her miracles of healing, of 
which w^e shall speak elsewhere. For these cures seem 
to have been in themselves natural, although her 
knowledge w^as acquired supernaturally. Her spiritual 
sons were well aware to what a treasure they had 
access, and regarded her as a divine oracle, which in 
truth she was. Encouraged by her unwearied kind- 
ness and wullingness to interest herself in every matter, 
whether small or great, which was a subject of anxiety 
to her neighbour, they would sometimes refer to her 
very small matters indeed, which, besides, were of a 
merely temporal character. 'Their good mother w^ould 
listen, however, with her customary charity and pa- 
tience, and never refused to reply to their questions or 
to afford them the benefit of her counsels. For ex- 
ample, one would come and ask if he should find a 
person whom he was desirous to see on some business 
that morning. Anna Maria, after looking at her sun, 
would tell her inquirer whether the person he w^anted 
was at home ; and inform him, moreover, what the 
individual would say, and how tlie matter would end. 



286 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

Another, uneasy at receiving no letter from Lis absent 
family, would want to know the reason, and then 
Anna Maria would tell him if his relatives were ir 
good health, if they had written, if their letters haci 
been lost or were detained by the post, and would 
even acquaint him with their contents. Another 
would complain of some one having received him very 
ill, and she would enlighten him as to the reason. 
Xay, a lost key or snuff-box was considered a matter 
of sufficient importance to be referred to her. In short, 
they treated her as little children do their mother, 
running to her for comfort or help in every little 
grievance or trouble, and she on her part treated them 
as a loving mother treats her little children, neither 
rebuking them, nor driving them away, nor showing 
any contempt for their miniature misfortunes. ^ Why 
don't you search for it V she would gaily reply to one 
of these bewailers of lost articles ; ' is God obliged to 
look after careless people *?' Then, if all searchings 
proved fruitless, she would say, smiling, ^ Go to such a 
place ; you have left it there ;' or, ' Such a person has 
found it; make him give it you back; but be more 
careful another time.* 

A person had taken it into his head that his father, 
when dying, had committed a large sum to the care of 
some third party, to be conveyed to him, his eldest 
son. This idea was continuallji tormenting him, and 
at last he consulted Anna Maria, who bade him think 
no more about the matter. ' In the first place,' she 
said, ^ the sum was not so considerable as you imagine ; 
it was only so much' (and she stated the amount). 
* Besides, some time before your father's illness, some 
of his servants plotted together to rob him of it ; they 
are dead, and are undergoing their punishment in the 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF FUTURE EVENTS. 287 

otlier life ; trouble yourself therefore no farther, all 
inquiry would be useless.' 

It will be noticed that the subjects on which she 
was consulted had often no reference to spiritual in- 
terests, yet she did not refuse her sympathy or help on 
that account ; thus furnishing an example of the exer- 
cise of kindness, taken in its simple and general sense, a 
virtue which, even when unsupernaturalised, is perhaps 
the most like to a fruit of grace of any of the mere 
natural virtues. Anna Maria was eminently kind, and 
this is worthy to be noted as something over and above 
her charity. This kindness we see exemplified, in this 
her readiness to reply to questions, however trifling 
the subject-matter might be, if only they regarded 
matters of interest or anxiety to the inquirers. But 
if she had reason to doubt whether there might not be 
some impropriety in the inquiry, she would demur, as 
not knowing the will of God. For instance, when one 
of her spiritual sons, who was in great indigence, came 
to beg his good mother to look in her sun and tell him 
the numbers which would be drawn for prizes in the 
coming lottery, so that he might select three which 
would free him from his straits, Anna Maria desired 
first to ascertain whether God would permit of such 
inquiry, and received for answer, ^ Eeware of looking 
into the mirror with the view of choosing lottery 
tickets; that is not right' — ('questo non e la buona 
via'). ISTevertheless, towards evening, when looking 
into the sun for other objects, she several times saw 
certain numbers, which she mentioned, without, how- 
ever, indicating their value. 

She was the means of warning persons more than 
once of dangers to which they were about to bo ex- 
posed, but which they were free to avoid. Notliing 



288 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

appears more clearly, it may be remarked, from 
these revelations in the sun than the fact that, while 
some disclosed the irreversible decrees of God, others 
referred to decrees which would not have been changed 
but for the intervention of her prayers and penances ; 
and others, again, simply manifested dangers which 
could be avoided by a particular line of action, as in 
the case of certain maladies to which we have alluded. 
We subjoin an instance of this latter class. A distin- 
guished Cardinal was intending to take his evening 
walk in a certain quarter of the city. Anna Maria 
beheld in the sun a plot of the sectaries to waylay 
him, and lost no time in commissioning the priest, her 
companion, to go and warn his Eminence not to walk 
in the direction he had proposed to himself, but to 
take another road. This communication extremely 
surprised the Cardinal, as he had not mentioned his 
purpose to any one. 

Sometimes she simply announced a coming peril, 
from which, however, the person threatened escaped, 
no doubt by the help of her powerful prayers. The 
following incident is extracted from the deposition of 
the Marchese Carlo Bandini, who appears among the 
witnesses. ^ The fame of the surprising gifts and ex- 
traordinary lights enjoyed by the virtuous servant of 
God, Anna Maria Taigi, having reached our country 
(Macerata), my father, who loved to place himself in 
connection with persons of this kind, recommended 
me to go and see her. On my arrival at Kome, I was 
taken up by other business, and neglected my com- 
mission. I returned home, but affairs obliged me to 
repair again to Eome, and then my father repeated his 
injunction that I should visit Anna Maria. Accord- 
ingly I went to her immediately on my arrival at 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF FUTURE EVENTS. 289 

Eome. She told me of the repugnance I had felt to 
seeking h-er, and other things regarding my own interior 
which she could have known only by revelation ; all 
which greatly astonished me. My surprise, however, 
was increased when one day, shortly before my return 
to Macerata, she came to see me in order to warn me 
of a great danger which I should encounter on my 
journey. " The postillion," she said, " will leave the old 
road at such a place, in order to follow the one newly 
made. You will perceive the danger and cry out to 
him, but he will not listen to you." ' All happened as 
Anna Maria had foretold. Whether Bandini forgot the "*" 
caution he had received or did not observe the road 
which the postillion was taking, so it was that the 
latter diverged from the safe track ^at the spot she 
had indicated. When the vehicle had proceeded some 
way, Bandini recollected her words, and called to the 
postillion to moderate his speed. But the man either 
would not heed or could not stop his horses (probably 
the latter, for Bandini even menaced him with his 
pistols), he kept rapidly on, and, on arriving at the 
dangerous point of the road, the carriage Avas upset 
with such a shock that Bandini's servant received a 
blow on the head which caused his death. ' I myself,* 
he adds, * escaped quite miraculously.' 

We will here relate a few miscellaneous instances 
of her knowledge of persons, and of events both distant 
and future. The Queen of Etruria was at one time 
extremely uneasy respecting her brother, the King of 
Spain, as rumour had asserted that he had fallen into 
the snares of his enemies. She sent for Anna Maria, 
who fully tranquillised her. She indicated the place 
where the king was at that time, and described the 
appearance of many persons belonging to his Court, 

u 



290 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

and the queen subsequently ascertained that all the 
information given her was perfectly accurate. 

At the time that Camillo, Anna Maria's son, was 
drawn for the conscription, and before his return to 
his family, she was seen to leave her house weeping, 
and hasten to the jMadonna della Pieta. Her neigh- 
bours inquired what was the cause of her trouble, and 
she replied that her son was on the point of being 
drowned. By and bye she returned home, her face 
beaming with joy, and to the sympathising persons 
who had questioned her she said that the Madonna 
^ had saved her Camillo. In fact, at that very time the 
ship in w^hich he and other conscripts were sailing was 
exposed to all the fury of a violent tempest, and the 
captain had already announced to both crew and pas- 
sengers that all hope of saving the vessel was gone ; 
he afterwards declared that their escape from ship- 
WTeck w^as quite miraculous. 

Don Eaffaele states that when he was Secretary 
to the Pope's Maestro di Camera, Mgr. Earberini, he 
allowed himself to be guided in everything by the 
servant of God. In the evening he used to read her 
the list of the persons who had requested an audience 
of the Pope for the morrow. After consulting her 
sun, she would tell him if there was any one to whom 
he should deny entrance. She would occasionally, for 
instance, point out certain foreigners as suspicious 
characters, and direct him to make inquiries concern- 
ing them at their respective embassies, before ad- 
mitting tliem. On one occasion he remembered that 
she bade him beware of an individual whose name 
a})peared among the applicants, for he belonged to 
the secret societies, and came with the worst in- 
tentions. Further investigation invariably justified the 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF FUTURE EVENTS. 291 

prudence of her advice. Leo XII. accordingly reposed 
so much confidence in D. Raffaele for the direction of 
his audiences, that when Mgr. Barherini was disabled 
from attendance through sickness, he retained the Secre- 
tary of the Maestro di Camera at his post, contrary to 
all precedent, as the office of regulating the audiences 
devolved in such cases on the Camerieri Segreti for 
the week. I^eo XII., as we have said, v/as already 
well acquainted with Anna Maria's extraordinary gifts, 
of which Mgr. Strambi had spoken to him ; and so 
high was the esteem which he entertained for the 
servant of God that on more than one occasion he 
sent his own physician to her when she was ill. 

The following instance of her supernatural know- 
ledge is also related by D. Eaffaele. Mgr. Strambi 
was extremely anxious to give up his bishopric, desiring 
to exonerate himself from the charge of souls and pass 
the remainder of his days in retirement ; and after the 
return of Pius YIL to Rome, in 1815, he requested 
him to accept his resignation. The ground was so well 
prepared that the suit seemed likely to prosper. Car- 
dinal Pacca, Secretary of State, had spoken to his 
Holiness on the subject, and the Pope seemed w^ell 
disposed to accede to Mgr. Strambi's desire, who ac- 
cordingly flattered himself that he had all but obtained 
the solicited favour. ' Nevertheless,' says ^N'atali, 
* such was the confidence he placed in Anna Maria, 
that on the eve of the day when he was to go and see 
the Pope, he commissioned me, who happened to be at 
the Passionist convent, to go and tell the servant of 
God in his name that he was about to ofi'er his resigna- 
tion to the Holy Father, and to beg the help of her 
prayers.' Anna Maria, on receiving this message, 
raised her eyes to Heaven, and, after a moment of 



292 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

recollection, replied that the Pope had, indeed, been in 
the first instance disposed to grant Mgr. Stramhi's re- 
quest, but that he would have thought the matter over 
in the night and have altered his mind ; that upon seeing 
Idm in the morning his countenance would be changed ; 
he would receive him roughly, and command h.im to 
depart immediately to his diocese. ' I carried back her 
answer,' proceeds the witness, ^to ]\Ionsignore, who smiled 
and said, '' This time our holy chirp er (cicala) has made 
a great mistake ; know, my son, that I have arranged 
all with liis Eminence, Cardinal Pacca, the Secretary 
of State, who has prepared his Holiness, and I am 
rather going to return thanks than to prefer a request." 
It pleased God,' continues Xatali, * that I should 
accompany Mgr. Strambi to his audience, and be 
present at his reception by the Pope.' Passing through 
the antichamber, which was not yet opened for the 
morning audience, but where Monsignore was already 
in waiting, the Pope on his way to his own private 
apartment perceived him. His countenance imme- 
diately betrayed displeasure, and "vvith an impressive 
severity of manner he said these words : ^ We already 
know the purpose for which your lordship has come. 
Every one is pleading health ; we also are infirm at our 
advanced age, and yet we support the weight of the 
whole world. TThom are we to send as bishops ? Are 
we to send the scavengers 1 All want to resign. Let 
your lordship set off, and that immediately, for your 
diocese^Lei parta, e parta subito, per la sua diocesi — 
mo' (a frequent interjection of Pius YII.'s), and with 
that he abruptly left him. The disappointed prelate 
waited some time longer, and then requested through 
Mgr. Doria a private audience for the affairs of his dio- 
cese. When that was over, he entered a carriage, with 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF FUTURE EVENTS. 293 

D. Eaffaele, to return to the house of the Passionists. 
' iNot a word passed between us,' observes the latter, 
* until we reached the Arch of Titus, when Monsignore 
broke silence, and said, " You have heard, my son. I 
resign myself, and think no more of the matter." I 
repeated this to Anna Maria, and she assured me that 
Monsignore w^ould come and pass his last days at 
Eome, as he desired, but it would be only to lay his 
bones there ; that is, for only a brief period. Some 
time later, his infirmities increasing, the good prelate 
made another attempt to give up his bishopric, but 
without avail, and he therefore lost all hope of ending 
his days in Rome. He wrote to me begging me to 
speak on the subject to Anna Maria, and she again 
affirmed what she had formerly declared.' And, in fact, 
after the death of Pius YII. his successor, Leo XII., 
called Mgr. Strambi to Rome, and made him his own 
private counsellor and confessor. 

Mgr. Strambi then left his diocese, and came to live 
near the Pope at the Quirinal. Leo XII. was at that 
time engaged in organising certain reforms in his 
States, and was every day in conference with Mgr. 
Strambi on the subject. The latter requested D. Eaf- 
faele to come and see him every evening, when he used 
to inform him, with due circumspection, of the prin- 
cipal matters which had been discussed in the private 
conference which he had held that day with the Holy 
Pather, in order that he might communicate them to 
Anna Maria, whose counsels had so high a value in his 
eyes. Sometimes this holy woman's opinion differed 
altogether from that which Mgr. Strambi had formed ; 
nevertheless he reported it to the Pope, along with the 
prudent reasons she had alleged, reasons which won 
the approval and admiration of his Holiness. Mgr. 



294 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

Strambi honestly abstained from appropriating anything 
to himself, but confided to the Holy Father the source 
from which he derived the counsels he gave. The high 
idea which that Pontiff already entertained of Anna 
Maria's supernatural wisdom was thus greatly enhanced, 
and he continued to avail himself of her advice, so that 
it may be said of her with truth that she became the 
intimate counsellor of the Sovereign Pontiff in the 
highest matters of state, as she already was of the 
Queen of Etruria. 

I^Tor was Leo XIL, as we have said, the first Pope 
who valued the lights of this holy woman. Pius YIL 
had heard of her great gifts from Cardinal Pedicini 
(then only a Monsignore), and his esteem had not been 
founded on that prelate's report alone, but on a revela- 
tion which she had made respecting himself. He had 
charged Mgr. Pedicini to tell her to write something for 
him. Her humility was much alarmed at this request, 
and she trembled at the thought of writing to the Yicar 
of Christ ; but she felt that she was acting under obe- 
dience, so she took up her pen and chose a very simple 
subject, a circumstance relating to the childhood of Pius 
YIL, which she described in its minutest particulars. 
The Pope was surprised, and said that it was all per- 
fectly true. 

A young person acquainted with Anna Maria had 
begged her prayers that she might be enabled to realise 
her desire of embracing the religious life. She was 
poor and could bring no dower, and Mgr. Menocchio, 
whom she consulted, did not think she had a vocation. 
She returned quite discouraged to Anna Maria, who 
bade her not fear but wait patiently, for she would cer- 
tainly be a religious. A short time after, a benefactor 
supplied the necessary dower, and she entered a Capu- 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF FUTURE EVENTS. 295 

cMn convent, where slie afterwards became abbess and, 
after living a holy life, made an edifying death. 

Anna Maria not only saw all things, past, present, 
and future, in her sun, but she was able to receive 
directions from a distance given in the name of holy 
obedience, and to execute them, even when her obedi- 
ence also necessitated a miracle. We have already seen 
exemplifications of the extraordinary power which the 
tacit command of a priest officiating at the altar would 
have over her, as also in recalling her from the ecstatic 
state. Similar instances have not been infrequent in 
the lives of saints; but the following case is remarkable 
enough to deserve notice, as it goes to prove her super- 
natural knowledge. The Duke of Altempo, who was 
about to be united in marriage to the Countess Caradori, 
went to make a preparatory retreat in the Convent of 
St. Bonaventura. He begged D. Eaffaele to accompany 
him. 'I remained, then, in the convent,' says the 
latter, * without myself going into retreat, and I used to 
go out every day tov^^ards evening to see Anna Maria. 
I found her one day in bed, to my great sorrow, suffer- 
ing much pain in her legs, which were exceedingly 
swollen, and left her in this state, worse, indeed, than 
I found her. The following morning I experienced 
great disturbance in my mind, and did not dare to' cele- 
brate the holy Mass. I had recourse to God, and com- 
manded Anna Maria, in the nalne of obedience, to cure 
herself at once by the merit of this virtue, and get up 
and come and see me at St. Bonaventura's. Less than 
an hour afterwards, hearing the convent bell ring, I ran 
to the door, and found Anna Maria there, quite heated 
from her rapid walk. She said to me with a smile, 
'* Do not play me «^ny more tricks of this sort, because 
I am the mother of a family ; I cannot waste my time, 



296 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

and come so far." She quieted my mind, and hastened 
home again.' 

This incident might be recorded amongst her mira- 
cles, since she evidently healed herself, as well as among 
the examples of her supernatural knowledge. The ex- 
tracts that follow from the Princess Yittoria Barberini's 
testimony* contain a circumstance which in like man- 
ner exhibits an exercise of these two supernatural 
powers; only that the glory of the miracle seems in this 
case to be shared with St. Philip [N'eri. The lady in 
question had been in the habit before her marriage of 
frequenting the Church of San Ignazio, and there her at- 
tention was attracted to Anna Maria, then in her youth. 
She used to see her going to confession to the Abate Sal- 
vatori, and was struck by the evident fervour of her 
piety and her profound recollection. After her mar- 
riage with the Prince of Palestrina, she frequented the 
Church of Santa Maria della Yittoria on account of its 
greater vicinity to her palace, and took for her con- 
fessor P. Pilippo Luigi of San Mcola, with whom we 
are already acquainted as the director of Anna Maria. 
* By a disposition of Divine Providence,' says the prin- 
cess, * the pious woman, Avhose name was Anna Maria 
Taigi, came also to confession to the same priest for 
many years, and until the period when she fell ill. 
This furnished me with the opportunity of knowing 
her better, of speaking to her, and of establishing rela- 
tions with her which enabled me to appreciate her great 
piety, her uncommon virtues, and, above all, the extra- 
ordinary lights which God had communicated to her. 

* The Princess Barberini (Lorn Colonna), fearing that she 
might not live long enough to appear as a witness, made her 
attestation, "which appears in the Processes, previously to her 
death. 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF FUTURE EVENTS. 297 

Aceoidingly I took great pleasure in conferring with 
lier whenever a favourable opportunity presented itself; 
and I remarked in the course of these conversations 
how deeply penetrated she was with the maxims of our 
holy religion and with a reverential attachment to the 
Holy Catholic, Apostolic, and Eoman Church. When 
I could not see her I wrote to her, or sent some one 
who enjoyed o^i respective confidence. She used to 
pray God for me, on one affair or another, and the re- 
sult was always such as she had foretold. Whether 
speaking or writing, she was respectful and discreet, 
and at the same time frank and cordial. If my children . 
were ill, I had recourse to her, because I had good rea- 
sons to confide in her prayers, having had experience 
of their happy effects in cases concerning both my 
family and my own individual needs.' She proceeds 
to relate how her brother-in-law, Monsignore Barberini, 
Maestro di Camera to the Pope, having fallen danger- 
ously ill a little while before his promotion to the Car- 
dinalate, she sent word to Anna Maria, who took her 
accustomed charitable interest in the matter. Although 
the malady increased in violence, and at length reached 
such a point that the utmost apprehensions were enter- 
tained for the life of the patient, nevertheless Anna 
Maria reassured the princess, bidding her fear nothing, 
and recommending her to have recourse to the Madonna" 
of San Agostino and send thither six young girls, bare- 
foot, to pray, together with a little offering of candles. 
' This I did,' continues the Princess Yittoria; ' she also 
bade me seek the intercession of St. Philip Neri, the 
special patron of my family, and discard all uneasiness. 
And, in fact, when people were talking of Extreme 
Unction being administered to him, he had a sudden 
crisis, which saved him. The physicians marvelled, and 



298 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

were fain to acknowledge that this change could only 
be attributed to a true miracle of St. Pliilip Iseii, The 
above-mentioned Taigi had sent me a relic of the saint, 
bidding me make the sign of the cross with it on the 
sick man's forehead, and then hang it round his neck ; 
all which we did.' The princess adds, in the solemn 
attestation which she made, that upon many other 
occasions which she had not thought needful to specify 
she had personal experience of the wonderful j^reroga- 
tives and supernatural gifts of the servant of God. 



CHAPTEE XVIII. 

ANNA Maria's knowledge of events, political, 

ECCLESIASTICAL, AND RELIGIOUS. 

Anna Maria was quite illiterate. She had not ac- 
quired in her early schooling anything beyond the 
merest rudiments of secular knowledge. She was in- 
tended to earn her livelihood in a humble class of 
society, and her education was directed to fitting her 
for that object. Of history, geography, physical science, 
politics, and the like, she knew* nothing. In those 
days such subjects formed no part of the programme of 
primary instruction for the lower orders ; and certainly 
the ' Maestre Pie' had not imparted any knowledge of 
them to their scholar. !N'either had Anna Maria made 
any attempt since to supply this deficiency. Her whole 
attention had been concentrated on the duties of her 
state, and she had laboured to advance in no kind of 
knowledge save that of God. Whatever else she knew 



HEK KNOWLEDGE OF POLITICAL EVENTS. 299 

besides, came of divine, not human, teaching. About 
the affairs of the world, its politics, and its news, she 
never interested herself, at least of her own movement. 
If she knew them, it was because it was God's will to 
manifest them to her, and, in fact, she knew all. Anna 
Maria, D. EaflPaele tells us, saw in her sun the mas- 
sacres of Spain, the war in Greece, the ' three glorious 
days' of Paris, describing minutely everything as it 
occurred, just as if she had been on the spot. The re- 
volution at Brussels, the war in Poland, and all its 
miseries, she saw with the like distinctness both before 
the events and while they were in progress. They came 
before her at her will. She saw the localities, the phy- 
siognomies of the combatants, as in a mirror. In like 
manner, many years before, she had seen the defeat of 
the Prench army before Moscow at the very time it 
took place. ^ She described to me,' says Natali, ^ the 
defeat of !N apoleon, and gave all its details, long before 
the news arrived or could arrive. She also beheld his 
death at St. Helena, his bed, all his testamentary ar- 
rangements, his tomb, the ceremonial of his funeral, 
and knew, moreover, what was the destiny of that 
prince in time and in eternity.' * I remember very 
well,' says the same witness, ' that while the last war 
in Poland was going on, the Marchese Carlo Bandini 
used to be in the habit of visiting the servant of God 
in order to recommend his own special needs to her. 
Knowing his disposition and his discretion, I did not 
refuse to communicate to him the visions of which I 
have just spoken, according as Anna Maria imparted 
them to me, for her confessor had ordered me to take 
notes of everything. I described, then, to him the 
places and physiognomies which the servant of God had 



300 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

seen in lier. visions.* The IMarchese, who read the 
papers, was conversant with geography, and also knew 
the principal actors in the war, used to take a pleasure 
in mentioning in society, without stating the source of 
his knowledge, events which could not be known before 
the lapse of a good many days; and as the truth of 
what he announced was always confirmed, the world, 
as may be imagined, was greatly astonished. Accord- 
ingly the Prince Gagarin, the Eussian ambassador at 
Eome, came frequently for the purpose of questioning 
the Marchese, whose information was always so won- 
derfully accurate and more rapid in its transmission 
than could be supplied by the modern telegraph. More- 
over, he was what the telegraph is not, a prophet, for 
he could give the future as well as the present news. 

Circumstances occurred which obliged Anna Maria 
on one occasion to receive a visit from an eminent 
diplomatist, then ambassador from France to the Court 
of Turin. After answering with precision all his ques- 
tions, she proceeded to unfold before him his whole, 
past career ; she described the incidents of his youth, 
the persons whom he had known during the Great 
Eevolution, the circumstances connected with his sud- 
den arrest at night, together with other particulars of 
his life, pointing out at the same time the faults he 
had committed. The ambassador listened in astonish- 
ment. He then led her to the sphere of politics ; she 
immediately drew out an abstract of the general situa- 
tion of affairs, so that his wonder increased every 
moment. She clearly described the state of things .at 

* From the Marchese Carlo Bandini's attestation it would 
appear that he learnt all these revelations immediately from 
Anna Maria. We have given Natali's account. In substance 
it is precisely identical "with that of the Marchese. 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF POLITICAL EVENTS. 301 

the various European courts, and in the other nations 
throughout the world ; she unveiled the policy of the 
different cabinets, the objects to w^hich they were 
directing the measures they adopted, their several 
projects and covert designs, most of which were to 
be dissipated like smoke ; she pointed out how such 
or such an intrigue of some European power had been 
defeated by Providence, and she went on to show what 
ought to be the end at which sovereigns should aim 
and with what fidelity and circumspection ministers 
ought to acquit themselves of their trust. She also 
entered into details concerning the Turkish Govern- 
ment and its policy with regard to a court which she 
specified (doubtless Eussia), as well as the policy of 
that court in regard to the former government. In 
short, this poor illiterate woman described the whole 
state of the political world, the character of its govern- 
ments, its diplomacy, its negotiations, its secret in- 
trigues, its false principles, and the consequences to 
which they would infallibly lead. Of all this she 
delivered herself with great energy and force, for when 
speaking under the impression of the mysterious light 
she appeared quite another person. The ambassador 
was perfectly astounded. He remained with her for 
above an hour, and when he left the room it was with 
tears in his eyes. Turning to the person who had in- 
troduced him, he exclaimed, ^ What a prodigy ! how 
marvellous ! How is it possible for a woman to know 
all these things ? She seems to embrace the whole 
world in her ken, as I hold my snuff-box^ (raising his 
hand as he spoke), * while we old politicians do not 
even know all the secrets of the courts to which we 
belong.' He could not recover from his astonislnnent ; 
and he confessed, moreover, that all she liad told him 



302 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

of the most secret incidents of his life and his most 
hidden thoughts was perfectly true. 

While engaged in prayer, whether for Italy or for 
other lands, she used to see before her all the miseries 
and sufferings of which those countries w^ere the scene. 
She saw prisoners in their dungeons, sailors exposed to 
shipwreck, slaves groaning in bondage, in line, all the 
necessities, temporal as well as spiritual, of those for 
whom she prayed. Her soul w^as, as it were, in per- 
petual motion, continually interceding with her Lord 
for them, but more especially for their salvation, since 
that is the highest of all goods.' The nations which 
have been separated from the unity of the Church bad 
a large share in her prayers, as well as Jews, Infidels, 
and Turks. * One may say,' writes Cardinal Pedicini, 
' that her life w^as a laborious Apostolate, exercised 
throughout the w^hole world in a manner as surprising 
as it was novel and secret.' In beholding the idola- 
trous superstitions of Pagan nations, he tells us, and 
the profound ignorance of the true God in which they 
are immersed, she used to entreat her dearest Lord 
in the most simple and affectionate terms to show His 
face and make Himself known to them. And if she 
thus ardently poured forth her soul for the conversion 
of those who as yet knew Him not, and therefore had 
not abused His greatest gifts, with what fervour did 
she not pray for those sinners who had done terrible 
despite to the Spirit of grace, and particularly for those 
who were enduring a slavery far worse than any which the 
cruelty of man could impose — we mean those wretched 
men who were affiliated to the secret societies and 
banded together to do the work of Satan ! She prayed 
for them, and she also prayed against them. She used 
to see in her sun, as the Cardinal tells us, ' their secret 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF ECCLESIASTICAL EVENTS. 303 

assemblies, their impure conventions, in the farthest 
parts of the world, as well as their sanguinary con- 
spiracies against the good ; and the sight animated her 
to fervent prayers and generous self-oblations to her 
Heavenly Spouse, that He might not permit the ac- 
complishment of their impious designs. What did she 
not obtain of this kind, especially for Italy and, above 
all, for Eome ? God overturned the projects of the 
sectaries by the all-pov/erful breath of His mouth, and 
with His hand cut short the dark plots they had woven, 
when they had just reached their completion. But He 
never failed afterwards to exercise the rights of His 
justice oil His beloved Anna Maria by augmenting her 
sufferings in proportion to the graces she obtained ; of 
which she received the assurance from His own lips 
when she had made her generous offers.' 

Her prayers for the Church, for the Sovereign Pon- 
tiff, for the Cardinals and Bishops, were unceasing, 
and, in particular, she offered the most fervent petitions 
for the tranquillity of the States of the Church. We 
have already noticed how during the captivity of Pius 
YII. in Prance she used to be continually going bare- 
foot to the Crucifix of San Paolo, a devotion which she 
practised frequently at all times ; but to these peni- 
tential exercises she added many bodily mortifications, 
in order to appease the anger of God and obtain the 
restoration of peace to the Church, and the return of 
the Eoman Pontiff to his See. By her perseverance, 
says the Cardinal, in these works, which were all ani- 
mated by the most ardent charity, she merited to be 
assured by our Lord Himself of the very day when His 
Yicar would return to Rome, and how he would solemn- 
ise the first Pontifical Mass at St. Peter's on the Feast 
of Pentecost. This revelation was made lon^ before 



304: V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

the Pope's restoration, and at a time when, humanly 
speaking, not a ray of hope of such a blessed event had 
as yet beamed on the Christian vrorld. She beheld in 
her sun the departure of the French, and the festal re- 
ception of the Pope all along his journey through Italy 
and especially in Eome itself. Of these predictions notes 
were taken at the time. She also saw all that followed 
on Ills restoration, the governmental measures adopted, 
as well as the renewed plots of impious men. She saw 
the election of all the succeeding Pontiffs, down to that 
of our present holy Pontiff Pius IX., whose accession 
she did not live to behold on earth ; and she foretold 
the acts and events of their successive Pontificates. 
She beheld in the fullest detail the conspiracies of the 
secret societies, particularly as directed against the head 
of the Church and the superior ranks of the clergy. 
To avert the accomplishment of their nefarious designs 
was at this period one of the main incentives to her 
generous and repeated acts of self-oblation, and to the 
increased severity of her penitential life. Her prayers 
and penances, offered so perse veringly for this end, 
were at last successful, and she received a promise from 
our Lord that during her life the machinations of the 
wicked should not succeed in Eome, but that He would 
always frustrate their designs when they seemed to be 
on the very ^ve of triumph. It was on a day when 
she was waiKing barefoot to the Basilica of San Paolo 
that she heard our Lord give her this assurance, but the 
condition was attached that she should offer herself to 
satisfy the divine justice. Gladly did she renew an 
oblation which she had already repeatedly made, and 
return the most fervent thanks to God for the boon 
which He had granted her, a boon which was to con- 
vert the remainder of her days into one protracted 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF ECCLESIASTICAL EVENTS. 305. 

martyrdom. She may, indeed, be justly styled a mar- 
tyr for the salvation of her country. Our Lord also 
promised, but probably many years later (for this 
scourge as yet had not menaced Europe), that the 
cholera should not attack Eome during her lifetime, 
and in fact its appearance and her death were contem- 
poraneous. 

But although our Lord had engaged to protect 
Kome against the enemies of His Church so long as 
she remained on earth, on the condition of her suffer- 
ing for His offended justice, this compact by no means 
precluded the necessity of continued prayer for the 
same end. Accordingly^ Anna Maria, who in the light 
of her sun saw all that was going on in the dens of 
darkness, where men instigated by Satan w^ere hatch- 
ing their diabolical plots, never ceased raising up her 
hands to God and reminding Him of His promise ; and 
He as often granted her petitions, but invariably with 
an aggravation of her sufferings. Scarcely, for instance, 
had she recovered from a mortal illness which assailed 
her under the Pontificate of Pius YIL, when God re- 
vealed to her new projects, more menacing than those 
which had preceded them, which were on the point of 
being executed. Indeed, the secret societies never 
wearied of conspiring during his reign, as also during 
the reigns of his successors, Leo XII., Pius YIII., and 
Gregory XVI., and were as often defeated of their 
infernal purpose in some unforeseen manner. 

God revealed to Anna Maria that her sufferings 
were necessary for divers ends with which she was 
acquainted, and for others which she must be content 
not to know. These sufferings used to be announced 
by repeated blows which she distinctly heard in lier 
heart, and which were more or less violent, according 

X 



306 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

to the magnitude of her coming trials. She resigned 
herself with tranquillity, hut nature felt the whole hit- 
terness of all which she endured and of all which she 
foresaw ; and God willed that so it should he, in order 
to add to her merits. How would the world scoff at 
the bare notion of the prayers and sufferings of a few 
holy souls, such as Anna Maria and other hidden saints 
associated in the same sublime work, availing to change 
the whole course of events in its history, and to arrest 
for years the destruction which was threatening it! 
But these souls were the friends, nay, the spouses of 
the Most High God, and He could refuse them nothing. 
He would have spared Sodom if ten just men could 
have been found within it, and it may be that even 
fewer would have sufficed to avert its doom if he who 
was the ^ friend of God' had ventured to ask Him. 
And this was before * the goodness and kindness of 
God our Saviour' had * appeared,' and human nature 
had been assumed by the Person of the Word. 

Anna Maria, however, knew well, through the reve- 
lations made to her, that days of great and terrible 
persecution were impending over the Church, and often 
spoke on this subject to D. Eaffaele. ^^Tumbers of per- 
sons who had previously been held in high esteem 
would, she said, be unmasked and appear in their real 
characters during those unhappy days. It would seem 
that it was also signified to her that pride was to be 
the cause of these defections and apostasies : for when 
she begged the Lord to tell her who were they who 
should be able to stand firm and resist in this time of 
trial, He replied, ' They to whom I shall grant the 
spirit of humility.' It was in consequence of this reve- 
lation that Anna Maria established in her family the 
custom of saying every evening, after the Eosary, three 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF ECCLESIASTICAL EVENTS. 307 

Paters, Aves, and Glorias to the Blessed Trinity to ob- 
tain from the mercy and goodness of God that He would 
mitigate the scourges with which the world was threat- 
ened. God also revealed to her that the Church, after 
passing through many trials, would obtain a triumph 
so splendid, that men would be struck with amaze- 
ment ; entire nations would return to the unity of the 
Church; and the whole face of the earth would be 
changed.* 

Although this holy woman abstained from ever 
passing a word of censure on superiors, and especially 
ecclesiastical superiors, and discouraged any such ob- 
servations in her presence, yet she beheld clearly in 
her sun the sins, abuses, relaxations, and shortcomings 
of every class ; and zeal for the house of God may be 
said to have consumed her. The sanctification of all 
orders of the clergy had the first place in her prayers, 
as these ministers of the altar also held the first place 
in her heart. At the time of the ChurcFs deepest 
affliction, during the captivity of Pius VII., while 
praying that the enemies of God might be humbled 
by His all-powerful arm, she would add the most 
fervent supplications that when the Vicar of Christ 
should be restored to Eome, the cardinals, bishops, 
and other ecclesiastics might be filled with the Spirit 
of God, and that the religious orders, when rees- 
tablished, might edify all by the strict observance of 

* Anna Maria's prophecies concerning events yet future, 
although registered in the Processes, have, from obvious mo- 
tives of discretion, not been published on authority in any de- 
tail. Many of them have become commonly known, however, 
in whole or in part, in consequence of their being mentioned 
by persons who enjoyed her confidence, or who gathered them 
from the lips of those who had been thus favoured. We shall 
speak of these predictions in the following chapter. 



308 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

their rule and by their holy lives. During the con- 
claves she used to offer prayers and penances with 
special devotion for the election of the new Pope ; 
and, moreover, she knew well on whom the election 
would fall. Thus we learn that at the death of 
Leo XII., while the Cardinals were in conclave, she 
predicted that the new Pope would be elected in eight 
days, and that the Pontificate of Pius YIII. would be 
short. In like manner, she foresaw the choice of his 
successor. 

D. Raffaele gives the following account of a cir- 
cumstance which took place some time before the 
death of Pius YIII. * I went,' he says, ^ with the 
servant of God to visit the Holy Crucifix at San Paolo 
fuori le mura. The Cardinal Cappellari came on foot 
from San Gregorio. Anna Maria was occupying the 
only prie-dieu which the chapel contained. I tried, by 
shaking her, to make her vacate it for the Cardinal ; 
but she was unconscious, and perceived nothing. The 
good Cardinal signed to me to leave her in quiet, and 
he knelt down at the balustrade. Anna Maria after a 
while came out of her ecstatic slumber, gazed upwards 
for a moment, and then fixed her eyes on the Cardinal. 
On our way back to Rome, I asked her why she had 
looked so long and earnestly at the Cardinal. As she 
was bound by obedience to manifest everything to me, 
she frankly said, *' That is the future Pope." She then 
described to me the allegorical signs which she had 
remarked in her sun. She had seen a little dove, sur- 
rounded with golden rays, which rested upon him; 
the bird was veiled with clouds, which indicated the 
troubles of his Pontificate. At the time that Anna 
Maria foretold the election of Cardinal Cappellari, 
Pius YIII. was not very well in health ; and she 



HER KNOWLEDGE OF ECCLESIASTICAL EVENTS. 309 

forthwith redoubled the fervour of her prayers in his 
behalf. He died some months afterwards. The con- 
clave having met, Anna Maria again beheld in the sun 
signs of the election of Cardinal Cappellari. She saw 
a little dove bearing a cross, another with the keySj 
and another carrying the tiara, while two more were 
drinking from a chalice w^hich had the arms of the 
Camalduli engraven upon it. Cardinal Cappellari al- 
ways showed me much kindness ; he used to offer me 
snuff out of his box, as well as to Mgr. Barberini ; a 
practice which originated in a witty remark made to 
him by the latter in the antichamber of Leo XII. at 
the time of his elevation to the Cardinalate ; he then 
declared that Mgr. Barberini and myself should always 
have a pinch out of his snuff-box. I met him at Santa 
Maria della Yittoria a little while before he entered the 
conclave, and he called me to take my snuff; as I took 
it I said, " I should not like this to be the last time ; 
but who would venture to put his hand into the Pope's 
snufF-box'?" He smilingly answered, ^'JNTay, I have no 
thoughts of that," and stepped into his carriage. 

* The conclave had lasted many days, when, in 
consequence of what Anna Maria had told me, I re- 
paired to one of the ruote^^ at which Mgr. Spada pre- 
sided, and asked for Cardinal Barberini. After making 
inquiries concerning his health, and whether there was 
anything he needed, I said, "Take seventeen or eighteen 
pinches of snuff from our friend's box, and tell him from 
me that I shall not be able to have any more." This 

* The * ruote,' or ' tambours' (as the French call them), are 
the apertures by which alone the Cardinals in conclave are 
allowed to communicate with persons outside, and by which 
letters and the like are passed in to them. They are carefully 
guarded within and without, and are open only at certain hours 
of the day. 



310 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

was clearly to foretell the Papacy. Cardinal Barberini 
did as I had said ; he took seventeen pinches out of 
Cardinal Cappellari's box, but, as he could not mako 
use of them all, he kept throwing them on the ground 
The Cardinal, surprised at this, said, " What are yov 
about? You are throwing away my snuff." "I wil' 
tell you later," replied Cardinal Barberini ; and he con- 
tinued to count out his seventeen pinches. Cappellari 
smiled at the message I had sent -him through Cardinal 
Barberini. In fact, he was elected seventeen or eighteen 
days afterwards. The doors having been opened, he 
saw me standing in the great hall with the ambassador 
of Portugal, and cast a signiiicant glance at me j later 
I went to ]3ay my homage to him along with my col- 
leagues, the Pontifical chaplains ; he bade me remain 
after the others, and offered me some snuff, which he 
continued to do whenever I attended his audiences. 
After Anna Maria's death I caused a lithographed por- 
trait of her to be presented to him through his fi^rst 
Ajutante di Camera, the Cavaliere Gaetano Morini, 
and acquainted him with the whole of the above- 
mentioned prophecy relating to his august person, as 
it had been communicated to me by the Servant of 
God.' 



CHAPTER XIX. 

PROPHECIES CONCERNING PIUS IX. AND HIS REIGN. 

Anna Maria survived the election of Gregory XVI. 
only six years ; dying in 1837, nine years before Pius 
IX. was chosen to fill the See of Peter. She had seen, 
however, all the events of his Pontificate in the niyste- 



HER PROPHECIES CONCERNING PIUS IX. 311 

rious sun, but for the present these details, though 
recorded in the Processes, are not given to the public ; 
it becomes necessary, therefore, to test the evidence of 
those which are currently reported. Subjected to this 
test, many of them will be found to rest upon satis- 
factory authority. We shall devote this chapter to 
recording what has transpired of most interest concern- 
ing this, to us, the most interesting portion of her pro- 
phecies, limiting ourselves to those which can be re- 
ferred with most certainty to the Yenerable Servant of 
God.* 

Mgr. Luquet gives the following particulars as com- 
municated to him, during the early days of the reign 
of Pius IX., by an estimable priestt in whom Anna 
Maria had the greatest confidence, and who also at- 
tested the same in writing. ' She spoke,' says Mgr. 
Luquet, ' one day to this same priest of the persecution 
w^hich the Church was to undergo. She foretold what 
impious men would do at Eome, as we have unhappily 
seen verified ; and she particularised what he who con- 
ducted the bark of Peter would then have to suffer. J 
Wishing to know who this Pontiff would be, the priest 
asked her if he was then among the Cardinals ; she 
replied that he was not, but that he was a humble 
priest not at that time in the Pontifical States, but in 
a very distant country. And, in fact, the Abate Mastai 
was a simple priest attached at that period to the 
I^unciatura in Chili. Anna Maria described the future 
Pontiff : she said that he would be elected in an extra- 
ordinary manner ; that he would introduce reforms ; 

* Others which are respectably attested, but which we have 
not been ourselves able to verify, will be found in the Appen- 
dix. 

f Unquestionably Mgr. Natali. 

\ Mgr. Luquet alludes to the troubles of 1848-9. 



312 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

that, if men were grateful for them, the Lord "would 
load them with blessings; hut that, if they abused 
them, His all-powerful arm would inflict heavy chas- 
tisements upon them. She said that this Pontiff, chosen 
according to the Heart of God, would be assisted by 
Him with very special lights ; that his name would be 
famous throughout the Avorld, and applauded by the 
people ; that the Turk himself would venerate him, and 
send to compliment him. She naid that he was the 
holy Pontiff destined to bear the rage of the tempest 
v/hich was to be let loose against the bark of Peter ; 
that the arm of God would sustain him, and defend 
him against the impious, who should be humbled and 
confounded; that in the end he would have the gift of 
miracles,* and that the Church, after painful vicissi- 

* A confii-mation of the truth of this prophecy is confidently 
believed to have taken place some years ago. P. Calixte quotes 
an account of it from a letter received from Rome and inserted 
in one of the French leading religious journals, the substance 
of which is as follows. The Princess Odescalchi, who was dis- 
tinguished for her piety and good works, had heen keeping her 
bed for eight months, afOicted with a cancerous disease which 
placed her in danger of death. She was every day getting worse, 
and for about three weeks had been almost unable to swallow, 
so that it was a question whether it would be possible to admi- 
nister to her the Holy Viaticum. On Wednesday, the loth of 
February, the Holy Father sent her by Mgi\ Franchi his bless- 
ing m articulo mortis. He also sent his own physician the 
Doctor Yiale Prela, in order to have the earliest and most ac- 
curate information of her state. She had no sooner received 
the Holy Father's blessing than she was able to take a cup of 
broth ; two days passed, and on the Saturday she again relapsed 
into danger of immediate death, which was expected every mo- 
ment. The princess then received for the second time the 
Pope's blessing; and on the following day two carriages of 
the house of Odescalchi drew up at the Vatican, and it was 
announced to the Holy Father that the princess had arrived to 
receive his benediction. It would be impossible to describe the 
surprise of all present when they saw her alight from her car- 



HER PROPHECIES CONCERNING PIUS IX. 313 

tildes, would obtain so glorious a triumph, that the 
world would be astounded.' So far Mgr. Luquet, writing 
above twenty years ago. 

We have already referred, on the authority of ex- 
tracts from the Processes, to the signal triumph which 
she predicted would follow the persecutions of the 
Church. Cardinal Pedicini records a divine communi- 
cation on this subject which the servant of God received, 
but, as quoted in the Analecta,'^ many gaps have been 
left unfilled. She was at the time praying fervently 
and shedding abundant tears, offering her pains and 
sufferings for the conversion of sinners, that sin might 
be banished from the world, and God become known 
and loved. ' The Lord,' he writes, ' was pleased to 



riage and kneel down to receive the Papal benediction, whick 
tlie Pope bestowed from one of the windows of his palace. Her 
recovery was complete. 

Early in June 1871, Kome was to witness a prodigy con- 
nected with the circumstance we have related. The gi-ateful 
princess had built a hospice attached to the Trinitarian Con- 
vent of San Crisogono in Trastevere, in memory of her cure, 
and had placed an image of our Lady over the door ; on either 
side the B. John Baptist of the Conception, a Trinitarian, whom 
she had invoked, and Pius IX., who sent her his blessing, were 
represented in the attitude of prayer. The people called this 
image the Madonna del Papa. One day a poor mother whose 
son had been carried off for the conscription, coming out of the 
church, cast her eyes on Mary and exclaimed, ' Mother most 
powerful, when wilt thou deliver us from these robbers, who 
tear away our childi-en to pervert them?' Immediately she ut- 
tered a loud cry and cast herself on her knees. Those who were 
passing by, attracted to the spot, saw the same marvel which 
she had witnessed. The Madonna del Papa was alternately 
opening and closing her eyes. Many times the police endea- 
voured to disperse the crowd, who were continually gathering 
in front of it, and removed the lights which they broup;lit and 
always perseveringly replaced. At last the Fathers took the 
precaution of removing the image into their convent. 

* Vol. iv. part i. p. 401. 



314 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

manifest to her the dreadful sins of persons of all classes, 
and how highly He was offended by them. At this 
sight she felt a poignant sorrow, and said, sighing, '' 
my Beloved, how can so great a disaster be remedied ?" 
Then it was said to her in reply, " jMy daughter. My 
spouse, My Father and I will remedy all. After the 
chastisement . . . the survivors will act thus." . . . .' 
This omission is naturally supplied by what is elsewhere 
asserted, that she saw crowds of heretics returning to 
the bosom of the Church, and beheld their edifying 
behaviour as well as that of all the faithful. It will 
be seen that the nature of the chastisement which is to 
precede this happy time is not specified, at least in so 
much of the revelation as it has been considered fitting 
for the present to lay before the public. All will be 
fully known when the cause has proceeded to its com- 
pletion, and the honours of beatification have been 
awarded to her whom our holy Pontiff has already 
declared Venerable. But, although the nature of the 
judgment and punishment which she foretold was to 
overtake the persecutors and oppressors of the Church 
is not precisely defined in any authoritative document, 
yet4)rivate individuals have spoken of it, and, in parti- 
cular, one whose testimony is unquestionable, namely, 
her confidant, D. Eaffaele IN'ataK, to whom, under obe- 
dience, she made known all her revelations, and who 
God willed should survive her so many years. This 
scourge, he told many persons, was to be a supernatural 
darkness, which was to prevail for three days,*'^* during 
which blessed candles would alone give light. 

* The present writer is enabled to add the testimony of an 
Italian ecclesiastic, formerly parish priesirof San Marcello, but 
now in England, Y\'ho was personally acquainted with D. Eaf- 
faele Natali. The latter, he says, called upon him in order to 



11 



HER PROPHECIES CONCERNING PIUS IX. 315 

It will already have been observed, in the passages 
which we have quoted from the Analecta,^ that during 
several consecutive days Anna Maria saw the world 
enveloped in a dense and awful darkness, accompanied 
by the falling of walls and timber, as if a great edifice 
were crumbling into fragments. As, however, the ser- 
vant of God saw many allegorical figures and repre- 
sentations in her sun, the question would still remain 
whether moral or physical darkness were signified. 
But if this vision be identical with the one mentioned 
by D. Eaffaele, there is every reason for concluding 
that the latter is the correct reading of the prophecy. 
Her confidant must have had the best opportunities of 
knowing her mind and hearing her explanations, and, 
indeed, the mention of blessed candles alone giving light 
seems to show that the darkness foretold is to be real 
and sensible, not figurative. We may consider it there- 
fore as certain that Anna Maria foretold a judgment of 
three days' darkness, and that, not only because we have 
the testimony of persons to whom D. Raffaele confided 
the fact, but also because P. Calixte's Life of the ser- 
vant of God, in which this prediction is confidently 
attributed to her, has (as he himself declares in qon- 
nection with this subject) been carefully examined at 
Eome and pronounced t© be the most exact and con- 



ascertain from the register the date of Anna Maria Taigi's mar- 
riage, which had been misstated in Mgi-. Luquet's Life. This, 
he believes, was in 1863. D. Raffaele confided to him at that 
time Anna Maria's prophecy concerning the three days' dark- 
ness, when only blessed candles would give light. He told him, 
however, that she had assigned no date to this event, but had 
said that it would come to pass when every human hope for the 
persecuted Church shall have vanished. 

* Supra, p. 239. Comp. Analecta Juris Pontificii, vol. iv. 
part i. p. 717. • 



316 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

formable to the Apostolical processes of any hitherto 
published.* This favourable judgment, one may natu- 
rally conclude, would certainly not have been expressed 
had he ventured on an assertion not borne out by her 
recorded and attested prophecies, which are reserved 
under the seals of the Sacred Congregation of Eites, 
We may add that P. Calixte's work was approved by 
his own Superior, the General of the Trinitarians and 
Postulator of her .cause. 

If, however, it might be deemed rash positively to 
decide that the predicted darkness will be physical, it 
would be something more than rash to ridicule the 
idea of such an occurrence as being preposterous and 
absurd. The very state of men's minds, so prone to 
regard any intervention of God in His material creation 
as a thing out of date, if not a species of impossibility, 
renders it perhaps the more likely that God has re- 
served such a judgment as a lesson to the present scep- 
tical generation. Some remarks to this effect made by 
M. Amedee [N'icolas, a French avocat, in a late publi- 
cation,! appear to be much to the point. ' True it is,' 
he says, * that men everywhere laugh at the idea of 
such an event occurring, and regard it as a dream : so 
they laughed about the deluge during the hundred 
years that ^oe was employed in constructing the ark. 
As for me, I do not affirm that the darkness foretold 
will be physical darkness ; but it does seem to me that 

'^ ' Nous pourrions nous contenter de repondre que notre 
seconde edition, qui deja les [tenebres et autres evenements 
extraordinaires] citait, a ete examinee attentivement a Home, 
et trouvee conforme en tout aux proces Apostoliques, plus com- 
plete et plus exacte que nulle autre des Vies de la Venerable 
donnees jusqu'a ce jour au public' (3me ed. note, p. 239.) 

t Les Predictions Modernes devant un Savant Theologien^ 
p. 92. Marseilles, 1871. ♦ 



HER PROPHECIES CONCERNING PIUS IX. 317 

the subject is sufficiently serious for men to abstain 
from scoffing at it ; and both history and Scripture 
prophecy, as well as tbe state of minds at the present 
epoch, may well justify apprehensions on this subject. 
Seeing that three days of physical darkness occurred in 
Egypt, it follows that we may have the same again in 
our time ; for if a thing has once been, we must con- 
clude that it can be. The Apocalypse, at the opening 
of the sixth seal, seems to me to predict darkness, 
when it says* that suddenly there shall be a great 
earthquake, and that " the sun shall become black as 
sackcloth of hair;" and if we have arrived at this 
period in the duration of the world, how shall we be 
able to see when the sun gives no light f (We shall be 
in darkness.) * The errors and corruption of men are 
at the present time deeper than were those of Egypt in 
Pharaoh's days ; atheism and materialism reign supreme 
among the masses. An event patently divine is needed, 
in order that people should return to a belief in the 
existence of God and of the spiritual world. Now this 
darkness would be an irrefragable proof, to which 
there could be no reply ; and therefore it is more 
opportune and more necessary than was that of Egypt. 
The same 6th chapter of the Apocalypse, renewing a 
prediction already uttered by the prophet Isaias,f 
announces that " the kings of the earjbh, and the princes, 
and tribunes, and the rich, and the strong, and every 
bondman, and every freeman" shall be seized with such 
dread on witnessing this cataclysm of nature, that they 
will hide themselves ^^in the dens and in the rocks of 
mountains," and say to the mountains and the rocks, 
** Fall upon us, and hide us from the face of Him that 

* vi. 12. t ii. 21. 



318 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the 
Lamb ; for the great day of their wrath is come, and 
who shall be able to stand?''"* This horrible scene 
does not belong to the convulsions at the end of 
the world, for it is followed by a great religious re- 
newal ; it does not refer to the judgment of the dead, 
but to a sort of judgment of the living, which may be 
signified by those words of David :t " Judicahit in 
nationihus^ implehit ruinasr And what fact could 
occur which woidd strike such great terror? The 
darkness which some fear and others turn into derision, 
would it not be well calculated to produce it % And if 
its result should be the conversion of the world to Jesus 
Christ, would it not be a great blessing for our human 
race, so widely gone astray, and ought it not to be 
desired and earnestly begged of God by those who 
desire that His ]N"ame should be hallowed, His king- 
dom come, and His will be done on earth as it is in 
heaven *?' 

But whatever may be the precise nature of the 
judgment impending over a guilty world which Anna 
Maria and many other holy souls, not only in modern 
times but in past ages have combined to predict, one 
thing seems to be unquestionable, that it will be both 
sudden and terrible, and such as shall force men to 
confess the power and hand of the Almighty. Our 
Holy Father himself very recently used some remark- 
able expressions with reference to the future triumph 
of the Church and the nature of the Divine interven- 
tion in her behalf which we have reason to expect. It 
is contained in a letter which he addressed on the 6th 
of February, 1863, to the Director of the TJnita Catto- 

* vi. 15-17. t Ps. cix. 6. 



HER PROPHECIES CONCERNING PIUS IX. 319 

7/ca,* tlien engaged in collecting an offering for his 
Holiness on occasion of the late centenary of St. Gre- 
gory YII. After speaking of the successful vindication 
of the Church's usurped rights by that holy Pontiff, 
although he himself breathed forth his soul in exile, 
and alluding to the still fiercer battle now being waged, 
not against certain of the rights of the Church alone, 
but against her very authority and constitution, nay, 
against the Catholic religion itself, and that, not by 
one prince alone, but by well-nigh all the powerful of 
the earth, the Holy Father proceeds to say, ' Seeing 
that we know for certain that the gates of Hell shall 
not prevail against the Church, these many and great 
difficulties ought not to depress the mind of him who 
considers them, but ought to animate him to greater 
hope. For, relying on the incontrovertible oracle of 
God, the very atrocity of a war so vast and manifold, 
waged by Divine permission against the Churchy is 
sufficient to convince the believer that such a triumph 
is prepared for her as for fulness and splendour shall 
surpass all that have preceded. And whereas God in 
lighter and less perilous struggles prepared for her an 
efficient aid in the arms of princes, or in the marvel- 
lous energy and authority of holy persons, and where- 
as in the present far greater trial He withholds all suc- 
cour, this again proves that He has reserved to Himself 
the victory over His enemies. And this will be more 
manifest if we consider that the root of present evils is 
chiefly to be found in this, — that men, having turned 
themselves with their whole mind and strength to 
earthly things, not only have forsaken God, but have 
altogether rejected Him, in such wise that it would 
seem that they could in no other way bo recalled 
* See the number for the 15th of March, 1873, pp. 739-40. 



320 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

to Him save by some fact toliich cannot easily he 
attributed to a second cause, but is of such a nature 
as to constrain every one to look up and exclaim, 
" This is the work of God, and it is marvellous in our 
eyes." ' 

The Pope expressed himself in similar terms to an 
Eastern prelate who, writing to the Bishop of Angou- 
leme, thus described what passed : — ^ The Holy Father 
said to me, " The world is immersed in evil ; it cannot 
thus continue ; a human hand is powerless to save it, 
the hand of God must manifest itself visibly, and, I 
tell you, we shall see this divine hand with our bodily 
eyes." These words he pronounced with an air of in- 
spiration, raising his two fore- fingers significantly to 
his eves as he spoke/* 

As a peculiar interest attaches to all the utterances 
of Pius IX., especially with reference to the present 
crisis, we record the following words, pronounced by 
him in public on the 16th July, 1871, and addressed 
to the Collectors of the Archconfraternity of St. Peter ; 
— ' There was a good old priest,' said the Holy Father, 
' Mgr. D. Eaffaele ]S'atali, a zealous promoter of the 
cause of the Venerable Anna Maria Taigi, who related 
to us mavellous things of this servant of the Lord and, 
amongst others, various predictions regarding these pre- 
sent times. We do not place too much reliance upon 
reported prophecies; these, however, are recorded in 
the Processes, and the Holy See will judge of them. 
We have not read them, but this good priest repeated 
several times that the Venerable, foretelling the trials 
we now behold, said that a time would come during 
which the Holy See would be obliged to live upon the 
alms of the entire world ; but that the money would 
* See Le Grand Pa;pe et le Grand Boi, p. 153. 



HER PROPHECIES CONCERNING PIUS IX. 321 

nevei be wanting. Truly,' added the Holy Father, ' it 
would be difficult not to recognise the accuracy of such 
a prediction.'* 

Anna Maria never declared the precise time at 
which the impending judgment was to take place, 
although we may be led to infer that the period is not 
far distant, on account of its connection with other 
events which she foretold, and of which we seem to 
be now beholding the progressive fulfilment; viz. the 
violent persecution of the Church and the despoilment 
of the Vicar of Christ, a despoilment which, she said, 
would be so complete that ' the Pope, shut up in the 
Vatican, would find himself hemmed in as by an iron 
circle.' All human hope, she added, would have failed, 
and it would be then that God would cause His mercy 
suddenly to shine forth. The same conclusion may be 
drawn, as we have said, from the prophecies of other 
holy persons who have enjoyed the possession of super- 
natural lights in our times; and they have been far 
more numerous than is commonly imagined. Amongst 
these was P. Eernardo Clausi, a Eeligious of the Order 
of the Minims, who often foretold the coming of a ter- 
rible judgment on the wicked and the subsequent glo- 
rious triumph of the Church, and who always spoke of 
it as near at hand. He told Sister Maria Margherita 
Laudi, a Eeligious of San Pilippo and his penitent, 
who has now attained her eighty-third year and who 
will appear, or, more probably, has already appeared, 
to make her deposition as a witness in the process for 

* Discorsi del S. Pontifice Flo IX. p. 194, Koma, 1872. 

St. Hildegarde, at the close of the twelfth century, prophesy- 
ing the fall of the Holy Koman Empire, a prediction the accom- 
plishment of which was witnessed at the beginning of the nine- 
teenth, also foretold the successive dismemberment of the pa- 
trimony of St. Peter. 

Y 



322 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

the introduction of his cause, that she would behold 
the coming chastisement which he himself would not 
live to see, and also the general reorganisation and tri- 
umph of the Church which were to follow. ^ Blessed,' 
he added, ' are they who will live in those happy days, 
for it will be a reign of true fraternal charity. The joy 
you will feel will be so great that it will cause you to 
forget all past sufferings. But before these things come 
to pass, evil will have made such progress in the world 
that it will seem as if all the devils had issued from 
bell, so great will be the persecution raised by the 
wicked against the just, who will have to endure a 
very martyrdom.' He also told her that the scourge 
which God would bring upon the earth would be some- 
thing new and unparalleled, and directed solely against 
the wicked. * Heaven and earth,' he said, ^will be 
united, and great sinners will be converted, because 
they will then know God. This scourge will be felt 
throughout the world, and will be so terrible that sur- 
vivors will imagine they are the only persons spared. 
All will be good and penitent.' He spoke in a similar 
manner to others, who have also attested the same on 
oath, saying that when things are come to the worst, 
and when all will seem lost; then God will set to pis 
hand and rectify all, as it were, in the twinkling of an 
eye, so that the impious themselves will be constrained 
to confess that it is the work of God. If persons of so 
advanced an age as this nun are indeed to behold these 
things, it must be concluded that the time is not far 
removed.* 

If the very general hope entertained by the faithful, 

* The Italian priest already mentioned was intimately ac- 
quainted with P. Clausi, and often heard the same predictions 
from his lips. 



HER PROPHECIES CONCERNING PIUS IX. 323 

and amounting almost to an expectation, that Pius IX. 
will witness the beginning of the Church's triumj^h he 
w^ell grounded, this again would give us reason to ex- 
pect ^this terrible event very shortly ; for a well-attested 
prophecy of Anna Maria's, which has perhaps become 
more generally known than that of the dajs of dark- 
ness, assigned to Pius IX. a reign of twenty -seven, 
years, and something more. It is also very confidently 
asserted, and the assertion certainly seems to rest on 
good authority, that she declared that Pius IX. would 
witness the beginning of the Church's triumph. If, 
then, this ' something more' signify but a portion of 
another year, then, indeed, brief would be the time re- 
maining which separates us from this awful judgment 
and the subsequent triumph. Prophecies, however, are 
not designed for the purpose of satisfying curiosity, 
even though it may be a holy curiosity, but for higher 
ends, and purposes more profitable to our souls. At 
present, however, the predictions of this favoured soul 
concerning events yet future — predictions to which 
naturally much importance is attached owing to the 
fulfilment of so many that she uttered concerning 
events novv^ past — have reached us but in fragments, 
those fragments also having been only orally trans- 
mitted. But, supposing it to be proved beyond a 
doubt that she promised that Pius IX. should witness 
the beginning of the Church's triumph, it would still 
be impossible for us to decide in what sense the pro- 
mise is be understood. It is well, therefore, wliile 
sharing the general hope and, above all, while joining 
in the fervent prayers which the whole Church is un- 
ceasingly offering to God for his deliverance, not to be 
led away to entertain a conviction which might only 
prepare ibr us a sharp disappointment, a disappoint- 



324 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

ment which would result, not from the failure of the 
prophecy itself, but from our own premature and rash 
interpretations. 

Leaving, then, this deeply interesting question for 
the future to decide, we are perhaps not wrong in con- 
cluding that the close of the reign of Pius IX. is at 
least closely connected with the period of the predicted 
deliverance. P. Calixte, writing evidently some time 
in the latter half of the year 1870, and considering as 
he does that Anna Maria's prophecies imply that he 
will witness the commencement of the triumph, ob- 
serves, *We may therefore conclude that the present 
uneasy state of things vrill yet last nearly three years ; 
and it is precisely during a period of three years that 
the secret of La Salette, now partially disclosed, averred 
that God would seem to have forgotten Prance the born 
^ protectress of the Holy See.' These three years are 
now approaching their completion. ' Marie Lataste on 
her part,' continues P. Calixte, ' speaking of Rome, de- 
clared that the Saviour Himself said to her, '' Oppres- 
sion will reign in the city that I love, and where I 
have left my Heart. It will seem to succumb during 
three years and a little longer." It would appear, 
then,' adds P. Calixte, ' that we must date the begin- 
ning of this trial from the entrance of the Piedmontese 
into Rome.' Marie Lataste also declared that our Lord, 
after announcing these three years of captivity to the 
city of Rome, during which time she was to be * in 
sadness and desolation, surrounded on all sides like a 
bird taken in a net,' said, ' But my Mother shall de- 
scend into the city ; she will take the hands of the old 
man seated on a throne, and will say to him, " Behold 
the hour, arise, look at thy enemies : I cause them to 
disappear one after another, and they disappear for 



HEB PROPHECIES CONCERNING PIUS IX. 325 

ever. Thoii hast rendered glory to me in heaven and 
upon earth, and I will render glory to thee on earth 
and in heaven.* Look at men — ^how they venerate thy 
name, thy courage, thy power. Thou shalt live, and I 
will abide with thee. Old man, dry thy tears ; I bless 
thee." ' These are doubtless encouraging words, but 
they cannot be said to specify with unmistakable 
clearness the nature of the glory which Pius IX. is to 
receive in this world. Heaven has a different measure 
from that of earth. Yet one thing we know. If God 
has His absolute decrees, which not even saints can 
move Him to reverse, all that He has revealed to us in 
Scripture, and all that the testimony of such chosen 
souls as that of Anna Maria makes known to us, of 
His adorable goodness and His readiness to hearken to 
prayer, serve to prove that He can be turned from His 
conditional purposes, and that He will prolong seasons 
of grace or of life at the cry of His children. To Pius 
IX. has been promised a reign of twenty-seven years, 
and something more. He has now completed the 
twenty-seven years. The more remains. What that 
more imports Anna Maria did not say. Perhaps its 
length, which is thus left indefinite, may depend upon 
our own fervent and united prayers. 

In respect to the great calamities which Anna Maria 
announced as impending over mankind, as well as the 
splendid triumph which will follow for the Pope and 

* The glory to which Mary here alludes as having heen pro- 
cured for her hy Pius IX. was the definition of the Immaculate 
Conception, which Marie Lataste foretold, as did also Anna 
Maria, and, hcfore her, St. Leonard of Port Maurice. The Lije 
and Writings of Marie Lataste have heen before the public ever 
since the year 1862. In the year 1844 she entered as lay-sister 
a convent of the Sacrc Coeur, and died before attaining her 
twenty- sixth year. 



326 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGT. 

the Chnrc"h, together with the renovation of the entire 
world, one may say that such is the general object and 
the common end of all the prophecies, whether ancient 
or modern, which bear upon these latter times. Each 
seer, it is true, has added or dwelt more at large on some 
special circumstances, but they all agree in two leading 
features. First, they all point to some terrible convul- 
sion, to a revohition springing from the most deep-rooted 
impiety, consisting in formal opposition to God and His 
truth, and resulting in the most formidable persecution 
to which the Church has ever been subjected ; and, 
secondly, they all promise for this same Church a vic- 
tory more splendid and complete than she has ever 
achieved here below. We may add another point upon 
which there is a remarkable agreement in the catena of 
modern prophecies, and that is the peculiar connection 
between the fortunes of France and those of the Church 
and the Holy See, as also the large part which that coun- 
try has still to play in the history of the Church and of 
the w^orld, and will continue to play to the end of time. 
Pius IX., indeed, is reported to have addressed these 
encouraging words to the Bishop of Poitiers, when 
speaking of the calamities Avhich the French were en- 
during : — ^ Let them console themselves, and hope in 
the midst of their terrible trials, for France shall not 
perish. God has great designs in her regard, and she 
will be more than ever the firm support of the Church.' 
And Mgr. Dreux Breze, Bishop of Moulin s, in an allo- 
cution which he delivered after his return to his diocese, 
declared that the Holy Father had said to him, * iN'o, 
no, France will not perish ; if France were to perish, it 
would be a sign that those evil days which are to pre- 
cede the end of time had arrived.' 

The Kevolution first attacked France, which we 



HER PROPHECIES CONCERNING PIUS IX. 327 

have seen bruised and lacerated by its fangs, and from 
thence it has extended, and has yet to extend, its 
ravages to other lands, but everything leads us to ex- 
pect renovation to spring from the same quarter whence 
the evil arose. ' France,' says P. Calixte, * the first to 
be punished for her excesses, will also be the first to 
arise, by a sudden and, as it were, miraculous restora- 
tion under a wise and good monarch. She will then 
aid the other nations to stifle in their bosoms that re- 
volution which they have received from her.' These 
anticipations may be said to express the hopes and con- 
fident expectation of Catholics, as they are also sup- 
ported by the general voice of modern prophecy reck- 
oning from the first formation of Christendom/ 

We need scarcely add that in recording any as yet 
unfulfilled prophecies either of Anna Maria Taigi or of 
others, however well attested, we are not presuming to 
pass any confident judgment respecting them. We know 
that the gift of prophecy, like the gift of miracles, is 
possessed by the Church of God, but, apart from and 
previous to any pronouncement of the Holy See, we 
have no title to do more than express with all sub- 
mission an opinion in regard to any particular prophecy 
as in regard also to any alleged miracle. One of the 
errors of which we are specially bound to beware, is 
that of fixing the precise time for the accomplishment 
of this or that prediction. ' Many of the faithfid,' says 
P. Curicque, * strike upon this rock of dates;' and he 
proceeds to quote a very apposite remark of the Cure 
de Maletable (who is said himself to have received 
supernatural lights). * We must be very reserved,' says 
the Cure, * in our applications and, 'above all, in fixing 
epochs. I. have myself often been deceived by judging 
of things after the manner in whicli we commonly judge 



328 V. ANNA MAUI A TAIGI. 

of tlie distance of objects which we view against the 
horizon. If, for instance, you look at several summits 
of mountains in the same direction, you may perhaps 
be able to calculate with tolerable accuracy the distance 
which separates you from the nearest, but, as the wide 
valleys which are on the opposite side are hidden from 
your sight, you readily believe, and are often mistaken 
in this belief, that the second peak is very near the 
first ; nay^ you sometimes fancy that both rest on the 
same base. He for whom the Lord vouchsafes to lift 
up a little the veil which conceals the future, is liable 
to fall into this error when the epoch of certain future 
events remains concealed : he judges that these latter 
facts follow close upon their precursors, and this often 
is not the case.' ^ If the seer himself may thus be de- 
ceived,' adds P. Curicque, ' what of us short-sighted 
ones'?' Precipitation in fixing the date for the fulfil- 
ment of prophecies is the parent of subsequent incre- 
dulity. Persons who have suffered this disappointment 
come to despise all prophecy save that which they are 
bound by faith to believe, as being contained in the in- 
spired record. But surely this attitude of mind is an 
unfortunate one, to say the least. One who thus puts 
aside almost with contempt all modern prophecy suffers 
a loss, since assuredly, if God has bestowed this gift 
upon His Church, it was intended for our consolation, 
encouragement, and support, as well as to maintain fresh 
in our minds what is so easily lost, the remembrance 
that we have no abiding-place amongst these gross, 
material, and transitory things which go to build up 
our present earthly state, but that we seek * a city which 
hath foundations, wliose builder and maker is God,* 
looking for the setting, up of that spiritual kingdom 
which shall finally break in pieces and supplant all the 



HER GIFT OF HEALING. 329 

empires of the world. ^ Despise not prophecies,' says 
the Apostle f ' but prove all things : hold fast that 
which is good/ In these few words we have both a 
command and a caution, summing up all that we need 
for our direction and guidance. 



CHAPTEE XX. 

ANNA Maria's gift of healing. 

We have more than once alluded to the gift of heal- 
ing which Anna Maria had received from our Lord. 
This power was communicated to her in a vision not 
long after her conversion, at the time she inhabited the 
house in the little Strada Sdrucciolo, near the Chigi 
palace. We possess the account put on accord by Car- 
dinal Pedicini, to whom she frequently related all the 
particulars. She was seriously ill at the time, and 
during one night great fears were entertained of her 
life, when, towards the dawn of day, the Lord Jesus 
appeared to her. His demeanour, as she described it, 
was that of affectionate confidence. He was arrayed 
in a violet-coloured garment, over which He wore a 
magnificent blue mantle, the wide folds of which He 
spread over her bed. ' She told me/ says the Cardinal, 
^ that His beauty and grace were marvellous to behold. 
He took her hand, and kept it pressed closely in His 
own, while He held a long conversation with her. It 
was then that He told her that He chose her for His 
spouse, and that He communicated to her the gift of 
* Thcss. V. 20, 21. 



330 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

healing the sick by the touch of that hand which He 
hekl clasped in His own. He also cured her instan- 
taneously of all her own maladies.' So intense had 
been the joy of that interview that, when Jesus left 
her, she felt a pang of sorrow so poignant that it ex- 
tracted from her a loud cry of anguish, which was heard 
all over the house and speedily brought all the terrified 
inmates to her bedside. She reassured them as best 
she might, for she did not tell them of the vision, say- 
ing only that she was perfectly cured; and, in fact, 
shortly afterwards she arose as usual, and went to Com- 
munion at the Madonna della Pieta, no vestige remain- 
ing of her late illness. 

The witnesses who made their depositions in the 
canonical process testified to a very great number of 
miraculous cures which had been wrought by her and 
duly attested. Cardinal Pedicini alone had taken notes 
of hundreds of which he had cognisance at the time they 
were performed ; and thousands nlore, he added, have 
never been recorded. Indeed amongst the difierent 
supernatural gifts which she received there seems to 
have been none which she more liberally used for the 
benefit of her neighbour. We have seen her exert it 
even in favour of animals. The greater number of her 
cures were operated during the first years which fol- 
lowed her conversion, when, as we have related, her 
services were continually requested in behalf of the 
sick ; and it may be added that, in devoting so much of 
her time to this external work of charity, she acted in 
strict obedience to her confessor. Her miraculous cures, 
however, were not all performed by the immediate touch 
of her hand ; commonly, when called to the bedside of 
sick persons, she used to invoke the Blessed Trinity, 
then make the sign of the Cross devoutly over them, 



HER GIFT OF HEALING. 331 

and give tliem her little image of the Blessed Virgin to 
kiss. Several cases are recorded of her having healed 
persons afflicted with that most dreadful of all maladies, 
cancer, which may be regarded as well-nigh incurable 
by human remedies ; the means she commonly em- 
ployed being the application of oil from the lamp which 
she kept ever burning before her Madonna. One of 
these cases was that of a gentlewoman belonging to the 
house of Albani, who could not resolve to submit to a 
medical examination. Her confessor went to beg Anna 
Maria's assistance, who gave him some of the said oil, 
at the same time bidding him exhort the sufferer to 
have faith. Its application removed the tumour that 
very night without the least pain. In the first fervour 
of her gratitude the gentlewoman expressed a strong 
desire to be made personally acquainted with her bene- 
factress, and engaged to furnish as long as she lived the 
oil for her Madonna's lamp. As time 'went on, how- 
ever, she failed to keep her promise, and God punished 
her avarice by sending her various troubles and mala- 
dies, which entailed great expenses upon her. Mother 
Doria, of the Convent of S. Domenico e Sisto, from 
similar motives of modesty had concealed at its com- 
mencement the same terrible disease with which she 
was afflicted. Growing worse, she sent for the servant 
of God, and disclosed to her the nature of her malady ; 
adding, ^You must set about curing me; I will not 
permit any doctor to examine me, and no one must 
know of my complaint.' It had now become extremely 
serious, for a wound had already formed. * My mother,' 
replied Anna Maria, * you apply to a very bad person ; I 
am quite frightened at your speaking in this way. Do 
not you know that I am a poor sinner V * Xo matter,* 
rejoined the nun, * you must cure me. 1 feel myself 



332 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

moved to ask this.' Then Anna Maria bade her make 
the sign of the cross with the oil of her Madonna which 
she brought her, and the cancer disappeared miracu- 
lously. Another Eeligious of the Convent of the Eambin 
Gesu was to have an operation performed for the removal 
of a cancer. Anna Maria's prayers were requested. She 
replied, * If the Eeligious has a great deal of faith the 
operation will not take place, but conhdence is needed.' 
Unfortunately the nun as yet had very little. Her con- 
fessor laboured to inspire her with the requisite senti- 
ments, in which, if he was not entirely successful, the 
firm faith of the servant of God and the ardent charity 
of her prayers supplied what was deficient, for again 
the JMadonna's oil worked a perfect and instantaneous 
cure. One day, as the Cardinal tells us, when Anna 
Maria was on her way to confession, she was surprised 
by a heavy shower of rain, and called at the house of 
an acquaintance to borrow an umbrella. The mistress, 
before fetching one, said, * We have some one dying 
here.' The sick person was, in fact, at that very mo- 
ment about to breathe her last ; she had received Ex- 
treme Unction, and the priest's stole was laid on the 
bed. Anna Maria, entering the room, placed her hand 
upon the head of the dying woman, and made the sign 
of the cross, invoking the Most Holy Trinity. ' Be at 
peace,' she then said ; * the grace is granted ;' and went 
her way. Some hours passed, and then the woman 
spoke, partook of some food, and arose in perfect health. 
Visiting one day a youth afilicted from his childhood 
with the falling- sickness, and suffering at that moment 
from an attack, she simply bade him animate his faith 
and arise. He arose, and his cure was perfect and last- 
ing. Thus, like her Divine Lord, from whom she had 
received this miraculous gift, she healed the sick some- 



HER GIFT OF HEALING. 833 

times merely by laying her hand upon them, sometimes 
by virtue of an application coupled with an exhortation 
to faith. 

Cardinal Barberini and Maria Luisa, the Queen of 
Etruria, were both indebted to Anna Maria for an un- 
expected restoration to health. The former, to whose 
illness we have already alluded, was in a very dan- 
gerous state, and the doctors with good reason feared a 
fatal termination. Anna Maria knew the peril he w^as 
in with a higher kind of certainty, for she read it in her 
sun, and moreover saw that this prelate's death had 
been decreed in the counsels of God. The decree, how- 
ever, as the result proved, was conditional, not absolute. 
He would have died had not Anna Maria prayed for 
him, and prayed perseveringly. Far from being dis- 
couraged, she besieged the throne of grace night and 
day, although the only answer she received for some 
time was that all must submit themselves to the will 
of God. But her faith was to triumph, as heretofore 
that of the Syrophenician, w^hen similarly tried and ap- 
parently repulsed by our Blessed Lord. Anna Maria 
insisted, and obtained her request. But, before grant- 
ing it, God told her that this cure would not be attri- 
buted to her, but to the physicians and to the prayers 
of other persons. She replied that she was well con- 
tent to remain unknown to creatures, only she implored 
the Divine Goodness to heal the sick man. All hope 
of the CardinaFs life had been abandoned, when an un- 
looked-for crisis took place ; he rallied and recovered. 
Whatever others may have thought, there was one, as 
we have seen, who recognised Anna Maria's share in 
obtaining this favour, and that was the Cardinal's 
sister-in-law, the Princess of Palestrina, whose name 
appears among the witnesses in the process, and the 



334 V. AXXA MARIA TAIGT. 

substance of wliose deposition we have given elsewhere. 
The queen's cure took place at the time when General 
Miollis, then occupying Rome with the Trench Imperial 
troops, had confined that princess in the Convent of S. 
Domenico e Sisto along with her young family. Maria 
Luisa was subject to occasional epileptic seizures, which 
used to throw her into frightful convulsions. Accord- 
ingly, it was necessary to have her rooms doubly car- 
peted, for she would suddenly fall to the ground, where 
she would struggle and knock herself violently about, 
howling fearfully and foaming at the mouth, until at 
lecgrh she lay exhausted and as one dead, like the pos- 
sessed youth in the Gospel. As it may be supposed, 
no medical advice had been spared in the case of a 
person of her rank. She had consulted Italian doctors, 
she had consulted foreign doctors, and they had con- 
sulted each other. Every remedy which art could de- 
mise had been adopted without success. The princess 
was at this time going through one of these fearful 
paroxysms. Anna ^laria was sent for. She touched 
her with her little ]\Iadonnaj and assured her that she 
would never more suffer from this frightful complaint. 
The convulsions, in fact, entirely disappeared, and never 
returned. It may readily be imagined how much this 
miraculous cure, experienced in her own person, con- 
tributed to enhance the love and confidence with which 
Maria Luisa regarded her holy benefactress. 

Anna Maria worked several cui^es in her own family. 
One of these was performed in the case of little Pep- 
pina, her g^rand-daucrhter.^ and is thus related bv Do- 
menico, who was certainly neither enthusiastic nor 
over-credulous. Indeed, while competent to observe 

'^ Giuseppa Micali, the same who appeai-ed among the wit- 
nesses in the Processes. 



HER GIFT OF HEALING. 335 

and accurately to report a fact, he seemed to have a cer- 
tain strange incompetence to discern its supernatural 
character, however patent this might be, until it was 
pointed out by others. ' I remember,', says this good 
man, ' that Peppina, Sofia's daughter, hurt her eye ; the 
surgeons said that the pupil was lacerated, and despaired 
of her cure, on account of the inflammation which must 
necessarily ensue, which besides endangered the sight 
of the other eye. The servant of God made the sign 
of the cross with the oil of St. Philomena, laid her 
hand upon the child's head, and sent her to bed. Pep- 
pina slept very well, without feeling any pain, and the 
next morning the eye was so thoroughly cured that she 
was able to go to school at the Maestre Pie of the Gesu. 
The surgeon could not believe it, and wished to make 
several experiments to ascertain if she could see. This 
miraculous cure, which was a radical one, took place in 
winter, when the rigour of the season would have 
rendered it more difficult.' 

Another miracle of healing performed by Anna 
Maria in her own family was in the case of her hus- 
band. Domenico is again the narrator. ' I also recol- 
lect being taken very ill,' he says, ' in the Church of 
San Marcello. I had scarcely reached home when I 
lost all consciousness, and they told me afterwards that 
it was (God preserve us from the same) an apoplectic 
seizure, not to say stroke, which I had. When I came 
to myself, with no recollection of what had occurred, I 
saw at my bedside the priest and my wife, who had 
laid her hand on my forehead, and was praying to the 
Blessed Virgin for me. It was a true miracle to get the 
better of such an attack without its leaving any bad 
result, especially in the head ; and I have no doubt but 
that the servant oi God obtained for me this marvel- 



336 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

loiis and instantaneous cure. I was told that tlie priest 
who perceived my pulse cease beating, had given me 
absolution.' 

It must not be concluded, because Domenico, when 
giving his evidence, uses the word * miracle' in both 
these cases, and although at the time he no doubt was 
persuaded that a great * grazia,^ as the Italians say, had 
been obtained in answer to his wife's fervent prayers, 
that therefore he then realised the fact that his wife 
had a supernatural gift of healing, which she exercised 
on these occasions, or that she literally performed a 
miracle. On the contrary, his simple statement as to 
his enlightenment after her death, through the instru- 
mentality of others, bespeaks his entire failure to dis- 
cern while she lived the wonders which he was almost 
daily called to witness. He says, it is true, * I believe 
that the servant of God was favoured with many super- 
natural gifts,' but he was expressing his acquired con- 
viction upon a retrospect of the past, not that which 
he entertained at the time. Had he believed that she 
was the recipient of such exalted divine favours, how 
could he possibly, for instance, have remained so blind 
in the case of her raptures and ecstasies ? With respect 
to these latter he makes this singular and candid 
avowal : ^ As for the ecstasies, I never could much 
perceive them;' after which he proceeds nevertheless 
to describe the outward appearance they presented. JN'o 
sooner, however, had Anna Maria expired, than he 
began to open his eyes. Many persons who had known 
her stopped him in the streets to inquire all the parti- 
culars of her death. ^ Some,' he says, ' spoke of the 
special gifts she had received from God ; others told of 
the graces they had obtained through her means ; 
every one had some good to say of her, every one lauded 



HEB GIFT OP HEALING. 337 

her, regarding her as one who was replenished with 
merits and virtues; many went to visit her tomb in 
the cemetery of San Lorenzo notwithstanding the pre- 
vaihng epidemic' (the cholera). * As for me, I always 
esteemed her, and I say that the Lord took from me 
this good servant of His because I was not worthy to 
possess her. I repeat that I had always esteemed her 
as a soul of very high virtue, but I neither knew nor 
suspected a host of things which I have learned from one 
person or another since her death. I believe that the 
Lord placed her immediately on her decease in Para- 
dise for her great goodness and eminent virtues, and I 
hope that she prays for me and for all her family.' 

Thus it was that it pleased God that this plain and 
simple man should have his eyes kept from discerning 
the brightness of his wife's supernatural endowments, 
that he might be all the more impartial and unbiassed 
a witness to her perfect possession of those humble 
Christian virtues which, after all, and not her sublimer 
gifts, went to form the title of her heavenly crown and 
her claim to the veneration of the faithful on earth. 
"No one can have the slightest ground for suspecting 
that his mental eye was dazzled or his judgment influ- 
enced in the estimate he formed of her character. Each 
word, each act of hers, he had viewed with the cool- 
ness with which we regard the ordinary behaviour of 
our friends and relatives : he had not seen her conduct 
in the light of her supposed sanctity, but had to learn 
her sanctity afterwards from the sum of her acts when 
she had run her course, and from the train of glory 
which she left behind. 



338 

CHAPTER XXL 

ANNA MARIA*S CLOSING DAYS AND DEATH. 

Anna Maria walked all her days in what the au- 
thor of the Imitation of Christ calls the royal road of 
the Cross. ' my dear daughter,' Jesus said to her in 
a vision with which He one day favoured her, ' I am 
the flower of the fields ; I am all thine, as also in like 
maimer I give Myself to all who courageously take up 
their cross and walk in My steps. The children of the 
Cross are My beloved ones, and their sufferings con- 
strain Me to love them more and more. He who would 
win Heaven must lead here below a life of penance ; he 
who would follow Me must suffer, and whosoever suf- 
fers is not subject to illusion, but advances securely in 
the way of salvation.' In this way Anna Maria never 
halted, and was advancing at an ever-accelerated pace 
during those declining years when a dispensation from 
rigour and a relaxation in the matter of mortification 
and penance seem so allowable. For she was now en- 
tered on that evening of life of which we say and think 
such sad things. Looking only at what is external, we 
see nothing in this unwelcome season but gradual decay, 
the failure of strength, the fading away of all that 
adorned and embellished life, the departure of plea- 
sures and, what is generally still more bewailed, the 
loss of all power to relish the little that remains. Such 
are the outward accompaniments of advanced age : joy 
and sunshine left behind, ever-deepening shades gather- 
ing in front ; while in Anna Maria's case there was an 
accumulation of the most painful maladies incident to 
our mortal nature. But if such be the aspect presented 
to the eyes of flesh by suffering humanity, the eye of 



HER CLOSING DAYS. 339 

faith has otlier prospects, on whicli its gaze is ever 
fixed. Eor there is an inner man which is being re- 
newed in everlasting youth day by day as the outward 
man decays/' He is walking in another region, which 
has other skies and is lighted by other suns. 'The 
path of the just,' says Solomon, | ' as a shining Hght, 
goeth forwards and increaseth even to perfect day.' 
Such was the path of the holy woman whose life we 
are now accompanying to its blessed close. 

Besides the sun of grace, which illuminates the path 
of every true Christian, the brightness of which is pro- 
portioned to his own fidelity to its light, Anna Maria 
had her supernatural sun, the splendour of which, as 
we have said, increased with her own increasing per- 
fection, till it attained a s^ven-fold lustre. Every day 
she beheld its brilliance become more dazzling, as does 
that of the orb of day when nearing its summer solstice 
— the same, but 0, how different from the veiled lumi- 
nary of the winter season ! How could this gifted soul 
pause or think of rest with such an horizon around her, 
illuminated by so divine a light ? Walking in the still 
dearer presence of the invisible God and in close union 
of soul with her Beloved, Anna Maria pressed on, not 
knowing what it was to seek a dispensation from any 
pain or penance which her mortal frame could bear or 
which holy obedience would permit her to lay upon it. 
She hastened on towards the goal, never pausing or re- 
posing, as if she had attained to perfection ; for, like the 
great Apostle,J she also counted not herself to have 
apprehended, but was ever following after to apprehend 

* * But though our outward man is corrupted, yet the in- 
ward man is renewed day by day.' 2 Cor. iv. 16. 
t Prov. iv. 18. 
+ Phil. ill. 12, 13. 



340 V. ANNA MAUTA TAIGI. 

that wherein she had been apprehended by Christ Je- 
sus, pressing forward to the prize of her supernal voca- 
tion. No worthier object of ambition can there be for 
any soul, none so worthy as this apprehending and per- 
fect fulfilling of its vocation ; and, blessed be God, it 
is attainable by all with the help of His grace, which 
He gives liberally in proportion to the work allotted 
by Him to each. Anna !Maria's vocation was indeed a 
lofty and exceptional one, and for its accomplishment 
she received immense graces, but she nobly and faith-* 
fully corresponded therewith. Hers were ihe ten pounds 
but she had so traded with those ten pounds as not only 
to deserve more than those who have received a lesser 
deposit, but proportionately more than do by far the 
greater number, on account 'of her rare correspondence 
to grace; for such perfect correspondence to grace as 
she exhibited is quite as rare, we may say, as were her 
exceptional graces. ' Take the pound away from him,* 
said the Lord in the parable, speaking of the slothful 
and wicked servant, * and give it to him that hath the 
ten pounds.' And they said to him, * Lord, he hath 
ten pounds.' Then the Lord replied, *But I say to 
you, that to every one that hath shall be given, and he 
shall abound; and from him that hath not, even that 
which he hath shall be taken from him.'"* Memorable 
words these. Anna Maria, then, abounded ; poor, de- 
spoiled, and suffering externally, within she was over- 
flowing with riches and with the joy which no man can 
take awa}^ She abounded in grace, she was full of 
merits, and she was now going home with joy fulness, 
like the labourer described by the royal Psalmisfc,t 
carrying her sheaves.' 

Towards the close of her life the demonstrations of 
* Luke xix. 24-26. t cxxv. 7. 



HER CLOSING DAYS. 341 

respect which she received became more marked than 
ever. If it was a striking spectacle to witness the honour 
paid to her by the great, the learned, and the noble, far 
more touching was it to note the love and veneration 
with which she was regarded by the poor. 'Anna 
Maria la santa' was the name by which she was fami- 
liarly called by the common people, who have the true 
instinct of real goodness, and when they are a Catholic 
people are the first to recognise sanctity. It is the peo- 
ple who canonise by their devotion before the Church 
canonises by her authoritative and infallible judgment. 
Of these poor people, who besieged her in the streets, 
the sick, the suffering, and the unfortunate formed a 
large proportion. They thronged around her to beg 
relief either for their spiritual or their temporal needs ; 
often to tell her long stories about their domestic 
troubles and to seek her advice ; even in church one 
or another would approach her softly, and respectfully 
whisper a request for her prayers. 

As she grew in holiness, Anna Maria grew also in 
her longing desire for solitude, silence, retirement, ob- 
scurity. She wished to be forgotten, to be alone with 
her Beloved and with her sufferings, which were, one 
might say, an integral portion of her love and were to 
be its expression so long as she remained in the exile 
of earth, — the bundle of myrrh which day and night 
was to lie in her bosom. For the joy, be it remem- 
bered, was only in the supreme summit of her soul ; the 
sensible joy never returned, save in temporary flashes, 
from the day on which God accepted her sacrifice and 
gave her the crown of thorns in the place of that of 
roses. We are told, indeed, that the choice between 
the thorny and the flowery path was once, as heretofore 
to St. Catharine, made to her in vision, and, though 



342 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

her answer is not recorded, we know with equal cer- 
tainty what it must have been ; for not only did Anna 
Maria joyfully accept the cross, but it had been the 
object of her most ardent aspirations and constant 
pra3Trs long before she obtained it. Eut though she 
so ardently desired to be hidden from -the e^'es and the 
very knowledge of the world, yet she never withheld 
her hand from any work which charity towards her 
neighbour demanded of her, any more than from her 
household duties. These latter, indeed, continued to 
receive from her an attention as close and assiduous as 
is wont to be bestowed upon them by any good and 
careful mother of a family, who knows of nothing 
higher than the discharge of these humble duties ; nay, 
with far more, for, all with her being done for God, in- 
ferior motives never being allowed to inspire her sim- 
plest acts, all was done with a perfection to which mere 
nature never attains. God, however, had hearkened to 
the longing of her heart and designed to accord her a 
season of concealment and seclusion before He took her 
to ffimself. The time was approaching when Anna 
Maria was no more to be seen in streets and in churches ; 
she was to retire from the public view, which is all one 
with being forgotten by the world at large ; she was to 
be nailed to a bed of suffering in the secrecy of her own 
little chamber, for suffering was to be her close com- 
panion to the last. As usual, she was not left in ignor- 
ance of the Divine purpose, for God treated her as a 
friend, not as a servant ; the favour which, when on 
earth, He promised to those who should do the things 
which He commanded. ^ I will not now call you ser- 
vants,' said our Lord to His Apostles at that last supper 
when He disclosed to them all the tenderness of His 
Adorable Heart ; ' for the servant knoweth not what liis 



HER CLOSING DAYS. 345 

f 

Lord doth. But I have called you friends.'* He who 
thus abides in God's love by the keeping of His com- 
mandments shall never be taken by surprise, although 
fev/ indeed may be those who have specific revelations 
such as were vouchsafed to Anna Maria. 

On the 20fch May, in the year* 18 36, she was on her 
way to San Paolo fuori le mura. This accustomed pil- 
grimage she was performing that day by the order of 
her confessor ; the priest, her habitual companion, join- 
ing in it. As they walked along, she told him that this 
was the last time she should perform this devotion. 
We have seen how often her naked feet had troddei>. 
that path. Well did the fathers at the Basilica know 
her, having so often beheld her, for years past, coming 
to kneel before the sacred image of the Crucified, and 
remaining rapt in ecstatic contemplation for hours to- 
gether. They held her in high veneration, and as soon 
as they saw her approaching would at once hasten to 
uncover the Crucifix, which was ordinarily veiled. So 
great, indeed, was their persuasion of her sanctity that, 
'when she died, these good Fathers were desirous of 
possessing her body ; a boon, however, not reserved for 
them. After hearing Mass, which was said by Natali, 
and receiving Communion, she remained kneeling be- 
fore the Holy Crucifix. Her heart was in a state of 
profound humility and great peace, the peace which 
Jesus left as His legacy. Presently she heard the voice 
of her Lord, who spoke these words to her : — ^ Live in 
peace, My daughter, and disquiet not thyself about 
what is exterior. Thou hast not spoken this thing at 
random. Farewell, My daughter ; thou wilt see Me in 
Paradise ; and for the act of obedience which thou hast 
this day performed, I have granted thee a grace, as also 
* Jokn XY. 15. 



344 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

to thy companion ; and before long you -will Loth be- 
hold it. Yes, my daughter, I bid thee adieu ; we will 
converse together at thy house, and thou shalt be with 
Me in My kingdom. Hasten to go whithersoever thou 
wiliest, for anon all will be over.' In short, the time 
was come when she- was to be totally separated from 
the world, and was no longer to be able to visit Jesus 
in the Tabernacle, or in His holy images, which abound 
in the Sacred City; but He would keep His loving 
promise, and come to visit her in her own dwelling, 
where she .was to abide as the prisoner of His love, 
drinking the dregs of that bitter chalice of which all 
His great lovers have partaken. The dregs of a bitter 
draught are always bitterest, and bitter indeed were 
those which -Anna Maria had still to drain; but she 
thirsted for its last drops, and then to go and be with 
Him for ever. 

On the following 24th October, Anna Maria be- 
came so ill that she was forced to take to her bed, 
from which she was never more to rise. Here she was 
to lie for near eight months. But it was no bed of 
repose on which she was to recline; it might rather 
be likened to a rack, upon which she was laid out for 
torture. No part of her frame enjoyed a moment's 
ease, but every member seemed to have its special dis- 
order appointed for its torment. To these were added 
cold perspirations, like those of death, and the mosf 
appalling inward spasms. She was passing now through 
the crowning trials of that patience which we have seen 
distinguishing her during forty-seven long years of toil,, 
trouble, and suffering, and which was to have its per- 
fect work. The sublimity of that patience it would be 
difficult worthily to describe, as it was difficult also 
fully to appreciate it ; for, as patience is one of those 



HER CLOSING DAYS. 345 

virtues whose province lies in endurance, not in action, 
much disappears from the sight of all but God ; and 
the more perfect it is the more it becomes hidden, 
because the sufferer bears not only with resignation, 
but with joy, and seeks not to make known his pains, 
as one desiring sympathy must needs do, but rather 
endeavours to hide them for the love of God and from 
his own charitable sympathy with the feelings of those 
around him. But whoever hides his sufferings, hides 
his patience likewise, more or less. Anna Maria's 
maladies, however, were too marked in their character 
and in their external symptoms for it to be question 
whether or not she suffered most acutely. Yet not 
only did not a single lamentation ever escape her lips, 
but her countenance exhibited the most perfect seren- 
ity ; and, when able, she conversed with her children 
and friends with even more than her accustomed cheer- 
fulness. It was she who supported and comforted and 
encouraged them. For herself she asked nothing by 
either word or look. She had none of those thousand 
little exigencies which the sick so often manifest ; de- 
sires after some alleviation, some possible or impossible 
• relief, which the most patient cannot sometimes re- 
frain from expressing. On the contrary, it was neces- 
sary to urge her to mention anything which she would 
wish to have, or which she thought might afford her 
some solace. But, in fact, she desired nothing but 
those very sufferings, and the God of her heart, who 
was so lovingly sending them to her. 

The only solace she valued, and that was never 
denied her, was to receive Him in His Adorable Sacra- 
ment. Every day Che priest who lived in her house 
celebrated Mass at her little altar, and gave her Com- 
munion. 'J'his Bread of Life was her food and her medi- 



346 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

cine ; she wished for no other. But a difficulty as to 
her daily reception might now have presented itself. 
Anna Maria, who certainly put no faith in physicians, 
and who moreover knew more by a glance at her sun 
than all their science could teach them, always paid 
them respect ; and when they were called in by others 
to attend her she* obeyed them submissively, though 
she often knew that they were mistaken, and at all 
times could have done far better without them. !^ow, 
as her maladies increased, and her state became more 
and more alarming, medical advice was sought by her 
family, and in proportion as she grew worse, they be- 
came more active with their prescriptions. They had 
their medicines, which must be given at stated inter- 
vals, and Anna Maria, who was a pattern of obedience, 
as she also was of patience, invariably submitted with- 
out remonstrance to their directions. At this juncture, 
Cardinal Pedicini requested Gregory XYI. to grant her 
a very unusual permission — that of communicating daily 
even when medicine had been administered to her after 
midnight. This dispensation is itself sufficient to prove 
the high opinion which the Sovereign Pontiff enter- 
tained of her holiness. 

While thus liberally fed with that Bread of Heaven, 
the Plesh of the Son of Man, which is * meat indeed,' 
she scarcely partook of any other nutriment. To so 
small a quantity indeed was the portion she occasion- 
ally swallowed reduced, that it is wonderful, consider- 
ing her exhausting sufferings and excessive perspira- 
tions, which seemed as if they must waste away her 
frame in a few days, that she should have lingered on 
so many months. The complaint of vfhich she is reck- 
oned to have died was an inflammation of the chest ; 
which, at first chronic, subsequently became acute in 



HER CLOSING DAYS. 347 

consequence of wrong treatment. Among the many- 
other maladies with which it was combined, one of the 
chief and most excruciating was a species of rheumatic 
gout, which ended by depriving her of all power in her 
limbs. Up to that time she still plied her needle in- 
dustriously, notwithstanding her torturing pains ; and 
she continued to direct the concerns of her little liouse- 
hold in all its homely details until about three days 
before her departure. But who could tell what she un- 
derwent during these seven months, which were the 
climax of what our Lord Himself had called ' a long 
martyrdom' 1 As difficult would it be to calculate what 
are the capacities for suffering of our passible humanity. 
Who can fathom them '? A thought which to nature is 
appalling and to the ivicked and impenitent most ter- 
rible, but sweetened to the true Christian by the re- 
membrance of his Saviour's Passion : while to the ar- 
dent lovers of a Crucified God it is a thought full of 
joy, since to be able to suffer, and even to suffer much, 
is to be capable of conformity to their Lord, such as 
angeis, who cannot suffer, might even envy them. 
Amongst these great lovers of the Cross, we need 
scarcely say at the conclusion of such a life as we have 
here recorded, Anna Maria was conspicuous ; and so, 
while thirsting to go and be united to her God, she did 
not cease to thirst also for sufferings. 

This conformity to the Passion o^Jesus, so remark- 
able in saintly souls, was to be enhanced in Anna Maria 
by an act of obedience which gave a peculiar character 
to her death. Facta est ohediens usque ad mortem. 
Some few days previous, it was revealed to her that her 
complaint needed a soothing and calming treatment ; 
that by the aid of medicines of this nature she might 
recover, as she had at other times ; but that if strong 



34:8 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

and violent measures were adopted, they would irritate 
and excite her whole system, and she would certainly 
die. ^Nevertheless, if those about her insisted, she was 
to ohey, and her obedience would be recompensed in 
Heaven. All this she told to the priest who was the 
confidant of her supernatural lights, and to whom obe- 
dience bound her to make them known. He in con- 
sequence combated the opinion of the doctors, who 
were bent on vigorous appliances for the purpose of 
subduing the inflammation. They were not, however, 
to be shaken in their views ; doubtless they thought 
that if D. Eajffaele knew more of theology than they 
did, and was a good physician of souls, they understood 
their own business best, and tlie doctoring of the body 
was their province. There is nothing to surprise us in 
the pertinacious reliance of these good men on their 
own professional skill ; but, strange to say, Domenico 
and the rest of the family sided witb them. Truly, one 
would have imagined that after the many instances 
they must have witnessed of Anna Maria's marvellous 
penetration and knowledge, as well as of her success in 
healing the sick, they would have given more weight 
to her own expressed desire, fortified and supported as 
it was by the opinion of him whom tbey knew to 
possess her full confidence. But so it was to be. Anna 
Maria submitted, and said no more, though she was 
aware of all sh.e would have to suffer, and the doctors 
had their way, witb their blisters and issues, and their 
other torturing appliances. The pain which she en- 
dured besides, from the exasperation of all her maladies 
which ensued, was indeed excessive ; but the end was 
approaching, and she knew it. 

On Friday, the 2nd June, she had a slight accession 
of fever, but the family, who bad seen her recover from 



HER CLOSING DAYS. 349 

£^v worse attacks of that kind, did not take the alarm, 
and the doctor attending her assured them that there 
was no cause for apprehension. She smiled sweetly at 
their confidence, for she knew that her hour was come. 
On the Sunday night the fever returned with increased 
violence ; and on Monday moridng, after communicat- 
ing, she fell into a long swoon, which bore so much the 
appearance of the immediate approach of death that her 
whole family believed that its last agonies had begun. 
JS'evertheless, the swoon was of a supernatural character, 
and during its continuance she received a divine intima- 
tioA that she would die on the following Friday. 

When she came to herself, she asked for D. Raffaele, 
and, with a joy ineffable illuminating her whole counte- 
nance, she communicated to him the happy summons 
home which she had received. Never in all the twenty- 
one years during which he had known her had he seen 
her look so joyous as when she told him that she was 
about to die. It was a look which, he said, it was im- 
possible to describe. Death to her, indeed, was the 
entrance into life and bliss eternal. She also announced 
her approaching departure to her family, speaking of it 
to them with a radiant cheerfulness, as of one about to 
make a short and pleasant journey. Then she called 
Domenico, and thanked him with the tenderest affec- 
tion for all the care he had taken of her and all the 
kindness he had shown her. The worthy man's heart 
was ready to break. If he was not aware of all she 
was in the sight of God and in the esteem of many on. 
earth, whose eyes were opened to discern what had re- 
mained hidden from his own, yet he knew what she 
had always been to him — the light, the joy, the conso- 
lation of his poor toilsome existence, the support of 
himself and of their family in every trouble, in every 



350 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

difficulty, in every strait. He knew her virtues, and 
felt that in her he was losing his best treasure. What 
more she said we do not know ; but she had a long and 
private conversation with him. Doubtless she spoke 
to him words of consolation, with affectionate encour- 
agements to live for God and for eternity which he 
must have treasured up and often recalled to mind 
during the remaining years of his pilgrimage. Then 
she called her children to her bedside, and gave to each 
her parting counsels. To them all collectively she 
made a touching exhortation to the practice of virtue, 
fidelity to God and to their duties, and to assiduous 
prayer; begging them in particular never to give up 
their custom of saying the Eosary together. ' My chil- 
dren,' she said, ' have Jesus Christ always before you ; 
let His Precious Blood be ever the object of your venera- 
tion. You will have to sufi'er much, but sooner or later 
the Lord will console you. Keep His commandments, 
cherish devotion to the most holy Virgin, who will be 
your mother in my place. I entreat you never to let 
harmony and peace be broken amongst you ; it is one 
of the greatest treasures which a family can possess.' 
Anna Maria had no earthly goods to bequeath to her 
children, but she placed them solemnly under the care 
and protection of the glorious martyr, St. Philomena, 
and declared her to be their guardian. 

Poor she had ever been, but poorer still she was in 
these last days of her life, when the whole family sub- 
sisted only on scanty alms collected by D. Eaffaele ; 
the very sheets on the bed in which she died having 
been supplied by the charity of her confessor.* Her 

* This may seem strange, considering how many rich 
friends she had who esteemed and even venerated her, but it 
must be remembered that she never sufiered them to be made 



HER CLOSING DATB. 351 

affectionate mother's heart had experienced some na- 
tural feelings of regret at leaving them in such an utter 
state of destitution and dependence, but she speedily 
stifled them, casting this care, as she had ever done all her 
other cares, into the bosom of her God. Yet uneasiness 
might seem to have been reasonably justified by the 
extreme penury in which she knew they were involved. 
Had the matter been concealed from her, or had it been 
possible to conceal it, she would have learnt it from an 
unjust summons which she received on her very death- 
bed for the payment of a small debt which her daughter 
had incurred, and had probably delayed discharging 
through utter inability to meet it. The hard-hearted 
creditor, who thus summoned the dying saint into court, 
enjoyed robust health at that time, but before a few 
months had elapsed he died of a sudden and violent 
illness, and went to render his own account before an- 
other tribunal. Her confidence in God never failed 
her ; and, though she knew that she was leaving her 
family in complete destitution, when by the slightest 
word or act she might have procured for them ease, 
comfort, and independence, she was consoled by the 
remembrance of the many assurances she had received 
from her Divine Spouse that He had them under His 
special protection, and that she need not fear to leave 
them in poverty for the love of Him. All, He had 
often said, to whatsoever land they might belong, who 



acquainted with her necessities. D. Kaffaele, it is true, asked 
alms for her, but he never mentioned the name of the person 
for -Whom he appUed. They were scanty therefore, as alms 
thus gathered are apt to be. And besides, God so willed it. 
She was never to have anything beyond what was strictly 
neccssaiy. We shall by and by see that what is here suggested 
of the ignorance of her friends is no mere hypothesis. 



352 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

should show kindness to her or to her family should he 
rewarded, while He would withdraw His mercies from 
such as should withhold their alms. 

It remained for her now to take the last farewell of 
these dear ones. All were clustered kneeling and weep- 
ing at her bedside. Her face alone beamed with joy, 
and with a peace inexpressible, which had never left it 
since the vision in which she had received the sum- 
mons of her Lord. She bestowed her last maternal 
blessing on her children, and then tenderly took leave 
of her husband. These adieus, it may be observed, 
are in Italy and other Catholic lands usually taken be- 
fore the end arrives, in order that the soul of the dying 
person may be freed from the thoughts and cares and 
affections of earth and able to occupy all his remaining 
time in preparing to meet his God. 

On the following day (Tuesday), she became much 
worse, and then the doctors had recourse to their most 
energetic measures, which they had kept in reserve, 
and which were in fact the immediate cause of her death 
by driving the inflammation to a vital organ, her lungs. 
She had foreseen the fatal effects, and the additional 
torture which their treatment would inflict upon her, 
but she submitted without an observation. On Wed- 
nesday she asked to- receive Communion in the way of 
Viaticum, in order thus publicly to honour her Lord. 
The Blessed Sacrament was accordingly brought to her 
from the neighbouring parish church with the usual 
ceremonies, and she received It with a fervour and a . 
tenderness which drew tears from all who assisted. A 
Trinitarian Father had been sent for to administer to 
her the absolution in articulo mortis, with the in- 
dulgences attached to the Third Order, to which she 
was affiliated. After this she entered into her lon^ 



HER CLOSING DAYS. 



353 



and painful agony ; but, ever thoughtfal of others, she 
begged her family to go and recruit themselves with a 
little rest. 

The priest who had been her companion for so many 
years, had been in constant attendance on her since the 
beginning of her mortal sickness, and she had exer- 
cised her gift of healing for the last time in his behalf. 
We have seen that she did not avail herself of it usually 
for such illnesses as were removable by natural means ; 
in this case, however, she departed from her rule, and, 
seeing him suffering from a bad cold on the chest, oc- 
casioned by a chill after violent exercise, she called him 
to her, and, on his approaching her bedside, 'Come near,' 
she said, smiling. He complied, and, raising her hand, 
she touched him, and then made the sign of the cross 
in the name of the Most Holy Trinity. ' Go now,' she 
said, ^ and lie down on your bed for about half an hour.' 
He did so, and at the end of that time his breathing 
had become perfectly free and his strength fully re- 
stored, so that he was enabled to bear the fatigues and 
anxieties of these last days. 

Perhaps no one needed consolation and strength 
more than did this good priest, for no one knew the 
value of her who was departing better than he did; 
and, moreover, a spiritual tie of a very remarkable 
character had bound these two souls together. Wliat 
a signification lies hid in that name of ' confidant,' so 
generally applied to him in the extracts from the Pro- 
cesses ! Who was ever the confidant of so astonisliing 
a secret as was D. Raffaele ^N'atali; a secret which must 
have burned in his bosom for those twenty-one years, 
and of which, even until long after her death, he was 
not permitted freely and publicly to speak? What 
wonder that, even in the feeble days of extn3mo old 



354 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

age to wliicli it was given liini to remain on eartli, lie 
could scarcely speak of any other subject than the 
Venerable Servant of God, Anna Maria Taigi ! And 
now he was beholding this holy associate entering on 
her last earthly conflict, her mortal agony. Her in- 
ternal peace seems never to have been troubled ; the 
enemy of souls was never suffered to afflict her, for the 
victory was won : all that remained was suffering the 
most intense, under which she was, it is true, inwardly 
supported by that joy and peace which occupied the 
supreme region of her soul, but of which she did not 
enjoy the sensible realisation. She had none of that 
consolation which has been accorded not seldom to 
martyi's amidst their flames and on their racks in such 
abundance and with such sweetness as to overpower 
their pains and render them almost unconscious of 
them ; accordingly, when the priest asked her once 
during those bitter hours what she now felt, she 
replied, ' Pains of death.' He, desiring to fortify her 
resignation, repeated those words : ' Fiat voluntas 
tua ;' and then, in slow and broken accents, but with 
a heavenly smile on her faltering lips, she murmured 
softly, 'Sicut in coelo et in terra.^ 

On the Thursday evening she received the sacra- 
ment of Extreme Unction, and after its reception her 
pains, great as they had been, seemed to be redoubled, 
but she had been strengthened by that wondrous rite 
to bear the aggravation. Her sufferings, however, de- 
prived her of the power of speech, although she re- 
tained her perfect consciousness. The family were now 
desired to remove into another apartment. We have 
said that the parting with friends and relatives is not 
in Italy delayed until the closing hours, so neither is 
it common for them to remain by the bedside until life 



HER DEATH. 355 

has flown. The idea of dying in the arms of those 
.they love, an aspiration which we so commonly hear, 
gives place to another amongst this Catholic people — 
that of dying amidst the ministries of their Holy Mo- 
ther, the Church ; aided, indeed, by the prayers of 
those who have been dearest to them, but not dis- 
tracted by the spectacle of their sorrow from the one 
thought which ought solely to occupy their minds. 
Eut though the presence of those who recall earthly 
ties and affections is thus withdrawn, the dying man 
has in its place the close attendance of those who can 
substantially aid and comfort him. It was so ordained, 
however, that Anna Maria should have neither con- 
solation ; not the sympathy and love of her surround- 
ing family, so soothing to many in their last moments, 
and the absence of which, if not replaced by something 
higher in kind, must be a simple pain and deprivation, 
nor yet that peculiar support and comfort which the 
minister of God, the priest, is able to impart. She 
was to have a crowning conformity to her Lord, and 
to the dereliction of soul which He endured when 
hanging on the Cross, by a three hours' abandonment 
at lier death. That she should be thus forsaken she 
had predicted twenty years before to D. Eaffaele, but 
at the same time she had told him that he would be 
with her when she died. In this there seemed to him 
to be an inexplicable contradiction, but, as had invari- 
ably happened, the event verified her words. 

This complete neglect at such an awful time, which 
makes the most solemn appeal to the ministrations of 
charity, was owing partly to a mistake. It was sup- 
posed that her end was not so near as it really was ; 
but, whether her intense agony accelerated it, or 
whether the placidity witli whicli she bore it, great as 



356 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

all knew her patience to be, helped to deceive them as 
to the proximity of death, it is impossible to judge. 
The confessor says that in fact she would have lived a 
few hours longer had she not undergone the fatigue of 
having her bed made — a thing never done when a per- 
son is in the last extremity, yet both the doctor and the 
Father Ministers of the Maddalena,* whose constant 
attendance on death-beds must needs have given them 
ample experience, agreed in allowing and, indeed, in 
ordering that this daily arrangement should proceed as 
usual. How distressing and exhausting such a process, 
involving necessarily much disturbance, must have 
proved to one in her last agony we need scarcely say. 
As her misery was thus to be shortened by a brief span, 
P. Filippo was of opinion that God compensated for 
this abbreviation by the additional suffering entailed 
upon her. Be this as it may, these good Father 
Ministers were so blind, or so blinded, to her state 
that they thought they might return to their convent 
for the night ; and the Yice-Parroco, who was in the 
house, being equally persuaded that the end was not at 
hand, retired into another room to say his office. D. 

* St. Camillus of Lellis fonncTed tlie Oi-der of the Clerks 
Eegiilar, Ministers of the Sick. It had been his original design 
that his congregation should minister only to the sick in hospitals, 
but it was the will of God that it should embrace a wider field. 
* Camillus,' as we read in his Life, ' had never thought of assist- 
ing the dying in private houses ; but God, who saw the numbers 
and numbers of souls whom the devil won by waiting to make 
his final attack upon them in that terrible moment, not only 
inspii'ed him, but, we may even say, forced him, to undertake 
this office, as most important of all for the Catholic world.' 
Oratorian Series, vol. i. p. 53. This being the saint's special 
object, it is the more remarkable that the Fathers of the Mad- 
dalena should have left Anna Maria at such a moment, and 
serves to demonstrate still more evidently that the error was a 
Providential disx)ensation. 



HER DEATH. 357 

Eaffaele, who had sat up the whole of the previous 
night with her, had at the urgent request of the family 
been persuaded to go and take a little rest. Conse- 
quently no one remained with her except the two ser- 
vants ; but had these kept good watch, this would have 
sufficed, for, on noting any change, one of them could 
have called the priests ; yet not only did they share 
the common delusion, but they were negligent in their 
duty, for they ceased to attend to her and went off to 
the farthest corner of the apartment, where, engaged in 
gossiping talk, these women saw and heard nothing. 
Indeed there was nothing to hear; for Anna Maria 
never uttered plaint or groan during those agonising 
• three hours, any more than she had done from the com- 
mencement of her illness. 

Just at midnight, D. Eaffaele felt so strong a move- 
ment to rise and repair to her that he could not but 
believe it to be an inspiration. He accordingly got 
up, and went down to her room, when he found her at 
the very last extremity, having indeed but a few more 
minutes to live. He immediately sent for the Vice- 
Parroco, and together they recited the Church's recom- 
mendation of a departing soul. He then gave her the 
last absolution ; and, while he was sprinkling her with 
holy water, and invoking for her the Precious Blood of 
Jesus, to which she had been through life so devout, 
Anna Maria heaved one long deep sigh, and with that 
sigh she breathed forth her spirit to God. P. Calixte 
sees in the strength of this last expiring breath a sign 
and testimony of the heroic fortitude of her great soul, 
and a further conformity to her dying Lord, who, when 
He yielded up His spirit to His Father, * cried with a 
loud voice.' She died about half an hour after mid- 



358 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

night on Friday morning,* having just completed sixty- 
eight yearsf and a few days of life. 

'No sooner had the servant of God breathed her last 
than he who had been her friend and companion for so 
many years hastened to inform Cardinal Pedicini, who 
immediately addressed the following letter to Cardinal 
Odescalchi, the Pope's Yicar : — 

^ Your Most Eeverend Eminence, — It having pleased 
our Lord to call to eternal rest the soul of Anna Maria 
Taigi, domiciliated in the Via Santi Apostoli, ISTo. 7, 
whom the undersigned Cardinal Yice-Chancellor has 
had the happiness of knowing and visiting for above 
thirty years, admiring her singular virtues, no less than 
her extraordinary gifts and the special divine lights 
with which she was as abundantly enriched as have 
been the greatest saints ; whereof he has had thousands 
of proofs, both in his own particular person and also in 
regard to public events of the Church and the world, 
indicated with such precision, long previously to their 
occurrence, and so minutely verified, that it was impos- 
sible to attribute the same to anything but extraordi- 
nary illuminations received from God; the undersigned 

* P. Calixte inadvertently says ' quatre heures du matin — 
four o'clock of the morning,' without adding that he is giving 
the Italian time, which is reckoned from sunset, not midnight. 
To those who may not be aware of this circumstance the asser- 
tion is puzzling, coupled with the fact, which he states, of D. 
Raffaele rising at midnight and being only just in time to 
render assistance to the dying woman in her last moments. 

t All the biogi-aphies, as well as the Analecta Juris Pon- 
tificii^ assign the 29th of May as her birthday, but the inscrip- 
tion on her tomb gives the 30th. As she was baptised on the 
day after her birth, this circumstance may account for the dis- 
crepancy. 



HER DEATH. 359 

Cardinal therefore has thought good to acquaint your 
Most Eeverend Eminence, in order that your religious 
piety may provide that the mortal remains of this 
happy soul, which was its companion in the exercise of 
so many virtues, may receive that particular respect and 
care which is paid in similar cases of rare occurrence. 

' If it has pleased God, for His secret purposes, to 
keep hidden from the world during life a soul so highly 
favoured by Him, albeit she was not only known but 
esteemed by persons of high distinction in their time, 
as Pius YIL of holy memory, who conversed with her 
more than once,* and Leo XII. in consequence of what 
Mgr. Strambi had told him concerning her, as well as 
various persons of note in this city, not to speak of 
foreigners, as lately Mgr. Flaget, who visited her during 
her illness with much satisfaction before quitting Eome 
— who can tell the secrets of God, and whether He may 
not design later to manifest in this favoured creature His 
mercies, as we have most just reason to believe He will? 

' The undersigned Cardinal profits by this opportu- 
nity to assure your Most Eeverend Eminence of the 
profound respect with which he humbly kisses your 
hands. 

* Your Most Eeverend Eminence's 

^ Most humble and truly devoted servant, 

* Carlo Maria Cardinal Pedicini.' 

We subjoin the letter of P. Eilippo, the confessor 
of Anna Maria, addressed to the same Cardinal on the 
following day. 

* The Cardinal would here seem to imply that Pius VII. 
had actually seen Anna Maria, and that several times. Of this 
circumstance, if true, no note appears in the extracts made 
from his deposition and laid before the public. 



360 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

* It is very just and proper seasonal)ly to reveal the 
works of God, for His greater glory and for the edifica- 
tion of the faithful. Yesterday, Friday, the 9th of the 
current month, passed to eternal rest the soul of Anna 
Maria Taigi, who lived in the parish of Santa Maria in 
Via Lata. I know that the Secretary of his Eminence 
Cardinal Earberini, D. Eaffaele JSTatali, who has lived 
with her nearly twenty years,^ has addressed, in con- 
junction with other persons, a petition to your Emi- 
nence, to the intent that regard should he had to the 
body of this holy woman, which merits all respect. As 
for me, who have been her confessor for more than thirty 
years, until the day before yesterday, when she received 
the last sacraments, I believe myself to be bound in 
conscience to make known to your Eminence that not 
only did she exercise the Christian virtues in an heroic 
degree, but that God favoured her also with special 
graces and extraordinary gifts, which will excite ad- 
miration, should it please God to publish them authen- 
tically before the whole Church, as I hope. I should 
have much to say on this head. I content myself with 
testifying to the charity of this holy soul, which con- 
stituted itself as a victim before God, and which ob- 
tained signal graces for Eome ; I hope that God will 
cause this to be recognised later. The mortal remains, 
therefore, of so virtuous a soul, and one so highly 
esteemed by Pius YII. and Leo XII., by Mgr. Strambi, 
Mgr. Menocchio, and a crowd of persons of every rank 
and every country who obtained extraordinary graces 
through her intervention, seem to merit special regard, 
in accordance with the constant practice of the Church, 

* In fact, twenty-one .years, since he was appointed in 
1816 ; "but it may be that he did not at fiust inhabit the same 
house. 



^ 



HER DEATH. 361 

*' Respectfully kissing the hem of your Eminence's 
purple, I have the honour to subscribe myself, with the 
most profound obedience, 

* P. FiLTPPO LuiGi Di San jN"icola, 
* Discalced Carmelite. 

* From the Convent of Santa Maria 

della Vittoria, 10th June, 1837.* 

These letters from two out of the three persons who 
knew her most intimately (of the opinion of the third, 
her confidant, we need not speak) are sufficient to show 
the undoubting opinion entertained by them of Anna 
Maria's extraordinary sanctity and high gifts, an opinion 
which they had no hesitation in thus solemnly record- 
ing from the very first. We cannot better conclude the 
account of her blessed death than by subjoining the 
comments of the same Father w^hose letter to Cardinal 
Odescalchi we have just given. After speaking of her 
heroic abstention from any step which might have re- 
lieved hcL' from the galling penury of her existence, 
especially in her last lingering illness, when but a word 
on her part would have sufficed to change its whole 
aspect and bring in most abundant supplies from per- 
sons of high station, who would have regarded them- 
selves as obliged and honoured by the permission to 
assist her, he says, ^Well, a woman replenished with 
so many merits, virtues, and supernatural gifts, lives 
unknown and dies abandoned by every one ; having 
round her bed of suffering only a poor family, whom 
she leaves in destitution and recommends to a priest 
equally poor, who is to continue collecting daily alms 
for them. She blesses her children, and leaves them, 
as her sole bequest, piety, religion, devotion to the 
Virgin, to the saints, and particularly to St. Philomena, 



V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

her patroness, whom she constituted the guardian and 
protectress of her poor and numerous family. After 
"which, recollected in God and animated by the fortitude 
which resignation imparts, she drinks to the very last 
drop the hitter chahce of a painful death. 

^ The forty martyrs of Sebaste merited a crown he- 
cause they resisted for a few hours the temptation to 
leave the frozen water for a refreshing hath. What, 
then, shall he the crown reserved for the martyrdom in 
spirit, the voluntary martyrdom, long and dolorous, 
which this pious woman underwent, not for a few hours 
hut for a whole life, and, above all, in the midst of the 
privations of her last illness, with the ever-present 
temptation to pass from the frozen waters of indigence 
and suffering to the soothing bath of ease and con- 
sideration for herself and her poor family. Here we 
see manifested heroic faith, firm hope, and ardent 
charity. Prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude 
reign with absolute sway, attended by the Evangelical 
counsels and lighted by the seven gifts of the Holy 
Spirit. Also I entertain no doubt but that the Lord, 
who willed in His profound wisdom to keep His humble 
and beloved servant hidden from the world during her 
life, will deign one day to make known her virtues to 
serve as an example, and will manifest His mercies by 
publishing the extraordinary gifts wherewith He en- 
riched her. He whose infinite love takes its delight with 
the creatures of this miserable earth. " Ludens in orhe 
terrarum ; et delicicB meoe^ esse cum filiis hominumP* 

* " Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the 
Holy Ghost, now and for everlasting ages. Amen." * 

* Prov. viii. 31. 



t 



■ 363 

CHAPTEE XXII. 

ANNA Maria's interment and re-interments. 

The cholera was at the gates of Eome at the mo- 
ment that Anna Maria expired, and indeed was only 
awaiting the departure of her whose prayers had shielded 
that city from its ravages during her lifetime, to break 
forth within its precincts. Meanwhile the rapidity of 
its advance and the frightful number of its victims — 
whole families having been well-nigh swept away — had 
filled the public mind in Italy with indescribable dis- 
may. Quite a panic prevailed in Eome, which had 
increased tenfold when the epidemic entered the States 
of the Church. The Pontifical Government had taken 
the most energetic measures to prevent its introduction, 
and the terrified people themselves willingly adopted 
every precaution to escape infection. If they met a 
body being borne to the grave, albeit enclosed in a cofiin, 
as had lately been enjoined by official regulations, they 
might be seen hurrying out of the way of the funeral 
train ; while the churches in which any corpse was ex- 
posed previously to interment were almost deserted. 
People shrank from inquiring who had died, or what 
was the cause of their death, so much did they dread 
to hear in reply the terrible word, cholera. For this 
reason, as D. Eafi'aele himself testified, the death of 
Anna Maria, which otherwise would have excited the 
highest interest amongst the population, did not at 
once become known. 

D. Eafiaele, who collected alms for her during her 
long illness, had not been able to reckon upon more 
than fouc scudi a month to supply the needs of the 
family ; ^ nevertheless,* says Cardinal Pedicini, * trust- 



364 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

ing in Providence, he ordered a suiftible funeral, with 
a leaden coffin, a cast of her head and face in wax, an 
act drawn up by a notary, and other expenses, which 
together might require two hundred scudi.' D. Eaffaele, 
we see, had not in vain witnessed for twenty-one year^ 
he results of undoubting confidence in God. ' He 
begged me,' continues the Cardinal, * to lend him fifty 
crowns to meet the calls which were most urgent. I 
replied that I would send them on the morrow by my 
major-domo; but I felt so strong an impulse in my 
heart that, before saying holy Mass, I sent for my 
major-domo and commissioned him to take the fifty 
scudi at once ; and I gave them most willingly, in gra- 
titude for the memory of this holy woman, to whom I 
was under so many obligations. I was not at the time 
aware of the extreme poverty of this family and of the 
above-mentioned ecclesiastic. It was not long before 
persons resident at Milan and Turin, who knew Anna 
Maria only by reputation, sent all the money which 
was required/ 

Towards the evening of the Saturday, the 10 th June, 
the body of Anna Maria was placed in a wooden coffin 
and removed to the parish church of Santa Maria in 
Via Lata, which indeed was nearly opposite, being borne 
and accompanied, according to the testimony of her 
youngest daughter,* Maria, by theEeligious of Ara Coeli ; 
the priests of that parish also escorting it. The coffin 
had been closed in the house previously, and the body 
remained during the Sunday exposed in the church, 
but still covered, on account of the threats of cholera. 
The obsequies having been performed according to the 

* Ten witnesses were examined in January, 1856, with re- 
ference to the burial, disinterment, and translation of the body, 
the absence of public cultus, &c. &c. 



HER INTERMENT AND RE-INTERMENTS. 365 

Eoman ritual, in tlie evening it was placed on a mor- 
tuary car and transported quietly but with due respect 
to the new public cemetery of San Lorenzo in the Agro 
Yerano without the walls/^' the Vice-Parroco bearing 
the cross, and a carriage following ' more nobiliunC (as 
the Cardinal says), in which were other priests, one of 
whom was the friend and confidant of Anna Maria, 
D. Eaffaele ITatali. On reaching the cemetery the De 
Profundis was recited, and the body was deposited in 
the little chapel attached to the burial-ground, there to 
await the digging of the grave. We subjoin D. Eaffaele's 
brief account given in testimony, as above noticed. 
* The corpse of the Servant of God was accompanied to 
the Cemetery of San Lorenzo fuori le mura by the Yice- 
Parroco, Signor D. Luigi Antonini, by me, and by 
another ecclesiastic (I know there was another also, 
whose name I cannot recall) on the evening of Sunday 
the 11th June, 1837. After the absolution, according 
to the rite of the Holy Roman Church, it was deposited 
in the chapel of the said cemetery and placed in a 
leaden coffin, with seals that had been previously 
, a'ffixed in the sacristy of Santa Maria in Yia Lata by the 
Signor Avvocata Rosatini, to await the digging of the 
grave close to the outer wall of the chapel on the 
Gospel side, where it was laid on the following morn- 
ing but without the ceremony of a deed drawn up by 
an attorney, in order to avoid public notice.' The seals 
had, however, been affixed to the leaden coffin in pre- 
sence of three witnesses ; and we shall find that seals 
had been also affixed to the wooden coffin, when we 
come to speak of the subsequent disinterment. 

* The reason for the interment beyond the walls Tvas a 
recent prohibition against burying within the precincts of the 
city, on account of the cholera. 



366 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

We have recorded these details in order to show the 
extreme care taken by the Church in cases of this kind; 
and it is sufficient to cast an eye at the minute inter- 
rogatory to which all the persons who were cognisant 
of any or all particulars relating to her interment were 
subsequently subjected, to be convinced what securities 
are taken for the identification of the body of one who, 
like Anna Maria, dies with the reputation of extraor- 
dinary sanctity. Circumstances forbade all display in 
her case, and even led to the observance of great pri- 
vacy, but not a single needful precautionary measure 
was omitted. The precise spot of her burial was indi- 
cated by orders transmitted from the Sovereign Pontiff 
through his Cardinal Yicar, Odescalchi. The servant 
of God had been laid in the coffin ^\Tapped in her usual 
garments, and with a brass cross around her neck. A 
tin tube, containing a statement drawn up by the priest 
who so long had been her confidant, was also enclosed. 
A marble slab covered the tomb, with a cornice, or 
border, of a darker hue, and having at its head a stone 
cross inserted, of the combined colours worn by the 
Trinitarian Order, namely, red and blue. Beneath was 
this simple inscription : — 

D. 0. M. 

A nn a-Marla- Antonia Gesualda 
Taigi Nata Gianetti in Siena 

II XXX Mao^gio :!iDCCLXix 
Morta In Roma II ix Giugno 

MDCCCXXXVII 

Terziaria Scalza 
• Del Ordine DeUa SSMA Trinita.* 

* ' God All-good All-great. 

Anna Maria Antonia Gesualda 

Taigi, Born Gianetti in Siena the 30th May, 1769, 

Died in Eome the 9th June, 1837, 

A Discalced Tertiary of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity.' 



HER INTERMENT AND RE-INTERMENTS. 367 

Moreover, around the coffin, a kind of little vault 
was constructed supporting the slab ; and, although 
the slab was similar to others in the cemetery, yet the 
inscription, with its Trinitarian Cross, and the isolation 
of the tomb, together with the notes taken of its situ- 
ation and of all particulars regarding the interment, 
amply sufficed for easy and certain identification at any 
future time. Here the holy body was to repose for 
eighteen years. 

Soon the report of Anna Maria's death spread 
through Rome, and D. Eaffaele was besieged by the 
common people with questions innumerable ; nor were 
their superiors in rank less anxious to learn every cir- 
cumstance regarding the departure of the holy woman. 
Prelates, bishops, cardinals, nobles vied with each other 
in the eagerness of their desire to hear the most minute 
details, questioning him especially as to her predictions 
respecting future public events. But those could best 
appreciate her loss who shared her spirit, and were 
themselves shining examples of holiness. D. Eaffaele 
recalls to memory how one who was himself soon to go, 
like her, to join the blessed company of the saints, the 
Canon Caspar del Bufalo, meeting him accidentally 
near the door of the Gesii, expressed the deepest sor- 
row at the loss which Eome had sustained in the de- 
cease of Anna Maria Taigi. * Ah ! Don Eaffaele,' he ex- 
claimed, ' when the Lord calls to Himself souls dear to 
Him, it is a sign that He intends to punish. Let us 
prepare ourselves for scourges.' We have already men- 
tioned how the unconscious husband of the saint be- 
came first alive to the exalted holiness of his com- 
panion in life from learning the veneration in which 
she was popularly held. In spite of the prevailing 
terror of the epidemic which possessed the public mind 



368 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

her name was on the lips of all. ^ The saint is dead ! 
the saint is dead !' was the exclamation to be hea-rd on 
all sides from the devout Eoman people. The house 
in which she died, and about which the fragrance of 
her virtues seemed still to linger, was visited by high 
and low ; and numbers of persons, notwithstanding the 
very general fear of intermingUng with any concourse 
of people and of breathing the atmosphere of a burial- 
ground in which many of the victims of cholera had 
been interred, went to visit and pray at her tomb. 

Among the first to give this marked testimony to 
her sanctity was one who had loved and revered her 
for above thirty years, the Cardinal Pedicini. There, 
at this humble gravestone, would he come and kneel, 
presenting his requests with the most fervent devotion 
and confidence, sure of being heard and aided by her 
in the home of bliss, as he had ever been while she 
sojourned in this valley of tears. Another eminent 
prelate, Cardinal Micara, a man of austere vu'tue, cul- 
tivated mind, and calm judgment, had also so great a 
reliance on the power of her intercession that he kept 
a picture of Anna Maria by him, having recourse to 
her in all his needs, and specially during his last mor- 
tal sickness, that he might obtain the grace of a happy 
death. This prelate, be it observed, filled the ofiice of 
Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Eites, and was 
noted for his exceeding prudence and caution, not to 
say severity, where it was question of reputed super- 
natural gifts. And not only did he himself thus highly 
esteem and honour the servant of God, but he fre- 
quently exhorted others to recommend themselves to 
her prayers in the difficult times through which they 
were passing. The Cardinal Ferretti was similarly 
devout to Anna Maria, and is said to have died with 



HER INTERMENT AND RE-INTERMENTS. 369 

her picture in his hand. The Bishops of Mondovi and 
of Sutri and l!^epi might be also seen minghng their 
homage with that of the common people at her tomb ; 
and many others besides, distinguished for rank, science, 
and, what is much more, exalted piety joined in the 
perennial pilgrimage of which her lowly place of inter- 
ment became and continued to be the object. 

The above-mentioned Bishop of Sutri and ^epi, 
Mgr. Basilici, who was himself a man of eminent piety 
and, we are told, had a special devotion to St. Philo- 
mena, as had Anna Maria, desiring to pray for her when 
saying Mass after her decease, felt his whole soul im- 
mediately filled with the sweetest consolation, as he 
afterwards confided to one of his friends, and interiorly 
prompted rather to recommend himself to her prayers 
than to ofi'er any in her behalf. In like manner, P. 
Bernardo Clausi, of the Minims, to whose sanctity and 
possession of eminent gifts we have alluded, having 
after her death prayed for her, as a testimony of grati- 
tude for the lights and counsels which he had received 
from her during her life, was nevertheless so convinced 
that she needed no help from the sufi'rages of others, 
that he used these emphatic expressions concerning 
her : ' If Anna Maria be not in Paradise, then no one 
is there.' And God Himself meanwhile seemed to be 
sanctioning the devotion and confidence of the faithful 
by the many answers made to prayers. The sick were 
healed, sinners converted, and graces abundantly con- 
ceded. She is also said to have appeared to several 
persons, but concerning these apparitions we have at 
present no details. 

One instance is, however, alluded to in what we are 
about to relate. We have seen the estimation in which 
Anna Maria was held, while living, by the servant of 

BB 



370 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

God, Yincenzo Pallotti, Founder of tlie Pious Society 
of Missions ; and we find his confidence in her power 
with God greatly increased after her blessed death, as 
the following passage from Dr. Eaphael Melia's Life of 
that holy man will show. ^ D. Rafiaele iN'atali/ writes 
his biographer, ^ having heard that the servant of God, 
Maria Taigi, had manifested herself to a nun, giving 
her some advice, went to Yincent to consult him about 
the matter, to know if he were to believe the revelation 
asserted by the said nun. Yincent answered him im- 
mediately that it was necessary to consult God by 
prayer. A few days afterwards, the same priest having 
seen Yincent again, Yincent told him that the afiair 
was not to be despised, and that he himself would put 
it to the proof. Then he charged the said priest to tell 
the nun to pray to M. Taigi, to give her an answer to 
some questions secretly arranged between Yincent and 
Natali. The nun did according to the suggestion of 
Yincent, though of course she was not aware of the 
nature of the questions, and the answers she received 
from the servant of God were perfectly in accordance 
with the questions Yincent had arranged. The same 
'witness observes that the said answers could not be 
given but by the light of God. Yincent also made 
other experiments by which he was able to judge of 
the sanctity of the servant of God, Taigi, so that he 
made her Plenipotentiary Secretary of the Pious Society 
before the throne of the Most Holy Trinity.' By this 
name he continued familiarly to call her, and often 
experienced the efi'ects of her protection.* Many other 

* D. Raffaele NataU makes the following observation in 
reply to interrogatories addressed to him and others after the 
introduction of her cause, with the object of ascertaining whe- 
ther due attention had been paid to the prohibition of Urban 
VIII. * I must state, as the simple truth, that whatever I may 



HER INTERMENT AND RE- INTERMENTS. 371 

testimonies to the fame of her sanctity have been col- 
lected, but these, on account of the peculiar distinction 
of the witnesses, have been specially recorded by her 
biographers, and suffice for the purpose. 

It was in consequence of the high reputation in 
which she was held by persons so eminent both for 
their theological science and their personal holiness, and 
the many recorded miracles granted at her intercession, 
that the Cardinal Yicar, Odescalchi, commissioned D. 
Eaffaele JSTatali privately to collect all documents ex- 
isting relative to the life of the pious woman. It was 
to this promiscuous collection, which had as yet under- 
gone no sifting scrutiny and was invested with no juri- 
dical authority, that Mgr. Luquet had access. Out of 
this mass of documents, and with the help .of whatever 
other information he could oraily gather, that prelate 
composed his Life of Anna Maria Taigi. Although it 
was chiefly grounded on the materials to which Mgr. 



have thought of the sanctity of her life from the knowledge I 
had of her great virtues, and from the apparitions of the 
Servant of God, who was seen in glory hy an estimable soul 
now departed, and from the instructions communicated to the 
aforesaid person, which could not have been known save by ex- 
traordinary and supernatural lights — all which were examined 
into by the Servant of God, Signor Don Vincenzo Pallotti, 
after having offered prayers on the subject, who thereupon 
manifested his favourable opinion concerning the said appa- 
ritions — nevertheless, out of respect to the Holy See I have not 
ceased to have Masses of Requiem said in suffrage for the 
soul of the Servant of God, Anna Maria Taigi, and I always 
have her present to my mind in my memento for the dead, 
even as I have other departed souls ; and I often remember 
what St. Francis de Sales said : " These good friends of mine, 
who knows how long they may make me stay in Purgatory ? 
for they will say he is gone straight to Paradise. I moreover 
know that souls still undergoing purgation have appeared, 
and that both favours and counsels have been given by them." ' 



372 V. ANNA MARLV TAIGI. 

EafFaele had given him access, yet unfortunately it had 
not the benefit of his revision. The manuscript was 
sent to France, and the Cardinal de la Tour d'Auvergne 
caused it to be printed in Alby for the Society of Good 
Books. It was translated into Italian by Mgr. Eomilli, 
Archbishop of ]\Iilan, and had a very large circulation, 
passing rapidly through several editions both in Eome 
and in other Italian cities ; amongst which Siena, the 
native place of Anna Maria, may be specially mentioned. 
In Rome alone seventeen thousand copies were sold. 
It was also translated into English and other languages, 
and was dispersed through every quarter of the world. 
Yet this first compendium not only was incomplete, — 
its pious author not feeling himself authorised to pub- 
lish the highest supernatural gifts with which the ser- 
vant of Ggd was favoured, — but, what was far more to 
be lamented, did her injustice, by imputing to her irre- 
gularities in early life of which she was innocent. Mgr. 
Luquet, when made aware of his error, would have 
washed, had it been possible, to withdraw all the copies 
from circulation ; but he had it in contemplation to 
correct the injurious mistake in a future edition, a 
mistake the more painful to him as he was full of zeal 
in behalf of the servant of God, and was, in fact, the 
first Postulator of her cause.* 



* Hovr Mgr. Lnqnet was led into this eiTor has never been 
clearly explained. Probably the sti'ong expressions of con- 
trition for past sins used by Anna Maria helped to deceive 
him ; but, as these by themselves would not have been deemed 
sufficient evidence to authorise him to make the assertion in 
question, we are led to conjecture that in collecting infoi-mation 
he must have given credit to some statement injurious to her 
moral character. Amongst her other trials, Anna Maria, as we 
have seen (p. 156), was a victim of repeated calumnies, for the 
repression of which she would never allow any measures to be 



HER INTERMENT AND RE-INTERMENTS. 373 

The holy body reposed, as we have said, for eighteen 
years in the Agro Yerano ; but, as every day the honour 
in which the servant of God was held increased, people 
began to complain that it should be left in a common 
cemetery, and, moreover, in a place inconvenient of 
access to those whose devotion led -them to visit her 
tomb. Various causes had combined to occasion this 
apparent neglect : first the ravages of the cholera, and 
subsequently the other scourges which visited Eome ; 
for we need scarcely remind our readers that the trou- 
bles and revolutions of 184.8 took place within that 
period. When peace and quiet were restored, a further 
obstacle still presented itself in the extreme poverty 
of Anna Maria's family and the very limited means of 
the ecclesiastic who took the warmest interest in the 
matter, Mgi;. Eaffaele I^atali. At this juncture, Mgr. 
Luquet generously came forward to discharge the ex- 
penses consequent on the disinterment and transfer of 
the body into Eome, for which, as the Postulator of her 
cause, after the completion of the ordinary Process con- 
cerning the virtues of the servant of God (the whole 
cost of which he had also defrayed), he formally re- 
quested authority from the Cardinal Vicar, in May, 
1855. He received a favourable answer ; his Eminence 
deputing Canon D. Francesco Annivitti, Fiscal Pro- 
moter of the Vicariate, together with a notary, to effect 
the legal act of recognition, of which full particulars are 
placed on record in the replies of the witnesses in the 
interrogatory to which they were subjected. From these 
replies we will extract as much as will be of general in- 
terest to the reader. 



taken ; but documents founded on the testimony of sworn wit- 
nesses have since fully established her innocency of any gravo 
sin. 



374 V. ANNA MARIA TxVIGI. 

At the end of May, the delegated judge, D. Gio* 
vanni Francesco Cometti, Archbishop of Nicomedia, the 
Fiscal Promoter, and the notary, along with the sub- 
stituted Postulator of the cause and various witnesses, 
amongst whom was D. Eaffaele Xatali, who had been 
present at the burial of Anna Maiia eighteen years be- 
fore, proceeded to the Cemetery of San Lorenzo. The 
tomb being recognised and verified, the coffin was re- 
moved from the grave and borne into a room attached 
to the cemetery, known as the Turret. At the four 
corners of the leaden coffin, which had upon it an in- 
scription simila]' to what had been carved on the marble 
slab, were the seals of brass affixed by the now defunct 
Rosatini, all agreeing with the accurate description re- 
corded of them. The leaden coffin being opened, the 
wooden coffin was then extracted. A white strip of 
ribbon had been nailed, in the form of a cross, upon 
the lid, which was sealed at the four corners with wax 
bearing the same impression as the brass seals without. 
The lid was raised, and displayed to view the Venerable 
Servant of God. The De Profundis having been re- 
cited and the absolution given, according to the Eoman 
ritual, by P. Desiderii, one of the Father Ministers of 
the Maddalena, they proceeded reverently to examine 
the holy body, upon which no taint of corruj^tion had 
yet passed. It was, indeed, well-nigh unchanged ; nor 
did this result from the exclusion of humidity, of which 
there were considerable signs, the same being indicated 
by rust on the tube w^hich contained D. Eaffaele's 
statement and had been laid at her feet. ' All were 
agreed,' says one of the witnesses, ' that the corpse was 
intact ; I myself saw the fresh colour in the face (la 
carnagione).' Her clothes were also in perfect preserva- 
tion. The coffin was left uncovered for four hours, for 



HER INTERMENT AND RE-INTERMENTS. 375 

the purpose of remoying the humidity, and meanwhile 
those who had joined, in the investigation went to take 
their midday meal. Such as are unacquainted with the 
usual proceedings on similar occasions may he surprised 
at the strict precautions which were taken during that 
brief absence. The sole window in the Turret was 
secured within with bars, the door being similarly 
fastened without, and stamped with four wax seals 
bearing the impress of the Cardinal Vicar's arms. In 
the afternoon the witnesses and legal ofiftcials returned, 
bringing with them Signor Gatti, a physician, and 
Signer Ciccioli, a surgeon, to examine the state of the 
body. And first we find the seals that had been affixed 
to the door four hours before inspected, and declared to 
be perfect and untouched. When we read of such 
precautions being adopted to secure the identification of 
the body, we may well conceive how rigorous is the in- 
vestigation which the Church requires with reference to 
the far more important subject of the sanctity of the 
soul which was united to it, and of the consequent 
claims upon the veneration of the faithful which the 
departed servant of God shall be declared to possess. 
The witness aheady quoted mentions that when they 
returned to the Turret, it was found that the action of 
the atmosphere during those four hours had discoloured 
to a certain degree those portions of the body which 
alone were uncovered, namely, the face and the hands ; 
this circumstance accounts for the apparent discrepancy 
between his previous description and the report given 
by the doctors in regard to the colour efface and hands; 
for, although the latter testified to their being essen- 
tially unchanged, they added that a certain livid hue 
had begun to manifest itself, which is the harbinger of 
decay. They noticed, however, that the face retiMrcO 



376 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

its regular form ] that the features were hut little al- 
tered ; that they were all perfectly covered with the 
skin; and that the hair and eyes were quite intact. 
The skin of the hands was a little dried, hut was sub- 
stantially unimpaired. In short, the change which had 
taken place was very slight, considering the length of 
time which had elapsed. We have seen that, such as 
it was, it was chiefly attributable to the exposure of 
those four hours ; as if God desired to show that it was 
no natural cause which had thus shielded the mortal 
remains of His servant from corruption, inasmuch as 
these influences would, apart from His special protec- 
tion, have produced their ordinary efl'ect. We shall 
find, in fact, that when her body was again examined 
many years afterwards, the covered portions were still 
as white as when laid in the grave. The coffin was 
now re-closed, and the Cardinal Vicar's seals were 
affixed, as also on the outer leaden coffin, in which it 
was replaced. The room was then carefully secured as 
before. 

Great pains had been taken to keep the whole 
matter as private as possible, nevertheless various ec- 
clesiastics had heard of what was being done, and 
hastened to the spot ; they were thus able to add 
their testimony to that of the official examiners ; Mgr. 
Chigi, afterwards Apostolic E'uncio in France, affixing 
his own signature to the legal attestation. It would 
seem that the first idea was to transfer the body of the 
servant of God to the Church of San Carlo alle Quattro 
Fontane. This would have appeared the most natural 
course, particularly as she had herself expressed a wish 
to be buried in a church of the Trinitarian Order ; but 
for some unexplained reason the Cardinal Vicar decided 
to have it transported into the Church of Santa Maria 



I 



HER INTERMENT AND RE-INTERMENTS. 377 

della Pace, whicli is served by secular clergy, and is 
one of much resort. Owing to the devotions of the 
month of May going on in that church, which inter- 
fered with the necessary preparation of the tomb, the 
removal was not effected until the 11th of June; it 
took place at night, in order to avoid any concourse of 
people. But a devout population is not easily cheated 
on such occasions. In spite of all precautions, and not- 
withstanding the advanced hour, a great crowd was 
found collected in front of Santa Maria della Pace, 
when the mortuary car arrived. It consisted of per- 
sons of all conditions in life, and behind were a great 
number of women, who were very pressing to enter, 
but were kept back, not only to prevent the church 
being too much crowded, but because it was not the 
custom to admit women within its walls at that late 
hour. The body was received by Canon Giacomo Moglia 
with the usual religious ceremony of the absolution, and, 
after a repetition of the same legal formalities of which 
we have spoken, was deposited in a grave under the 
pavement of the little chapel of San Antonio di Pa- 
dova, on the sacristy side, before the rail which en- 
closes the altar. A stone marked the spot where the 
holy body was laid, with this inscription : — 

Hie requiescit Serva Dei, Anna Maria Taigi. 

It was perhaps permitted by God that she should not 
at once be deposited in her final and proper resting- 
place, in order that a subsequent translation should be 
the occasion of a renewal of honours. Although the 
prohibition of the Holy See against giving any public 
cultus to those who have not yet been beatified was 
strictly obeyed in this case, her tomb was a place of 
constant resort to the devout. One of the witnesses 



878 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

who continually frequented the church says that in 
the morDing, at mid-day, and in the evening he con- 
stantly saw people of all classes go and kneel before 
it, and there silently offer their supplications. Canon 
Moglia also testifies that persons were continually ap- 
plying either for a copy of the Life of Anna Maria by 
Mgr. Luquet, or for a picture of her, or for some frag- 
ment of the clothes which she had worn. 

Ten years having elapsed since the removal of the 
holy body to Santa Maria della Pace, the two surviving 
daughters of the Venerable Servant of God (whose cause 
had been introduced by a decree of the Sacred Congre- 
gation of Kites, ratified and signed by the Sovereign 
Pontiff on the 8th January, 1863), and D. Kaffaele 
Natali, knowing well that her desire had been that 
she should be interred in a church of the Order to 
which she was aJB&liated as Tertiary, joined in address- 
ing a petition to his Holiness, Pope Pius IX., beseech- 
ing him to permit the transportation of her body to the 
Church of San Crisogono of the Trinitarians in Traste- 
vere. Leave being granted, on the 10th July, 1865,* 
at one o'clock of the afternoon, the Piscal Promoter 
the Eev. D. Antonio Euggeri, the Prefect of the 
Church of Santa Maria della Pace, Canon Raimondo 
Pigliacelli, and D. Eaffaele Natali, with the notary and 
several witnesses, amongst whom were two grandsons 
of Anna Maria, met in the Church of Santa Maria ; 
and, after D. Eaffaele had taken a solemn oath that 
the Venerable Servant of God, while living, had testi- 
fi.ed her desire to both himself and her daughters that 

* P. Calixte, usually accurate, has inadvertently stated 
that the translation took place on the 18th of August. P. 
Filippo Balzofiore, an earlier biographer, gives the true date, 
viz. the 10th of July. The present wi'iter has had occasion 
frequently to notice the accuracy of this Italian Life. 



HER INTERMENT AND RE-INTERMENTS. 379 

she should be interred in a church of the Trinitarian 
Fathers, the tomb was opened and the coffin identified 
with the same legal formalities as before. It was then 
provisionally placed in a small room adjoining, called 
the little sacristy, and there locked up, the notary 
keeping the keys. 

At eight o'clock in the evening, in presence of the 
same witnesses, the Prefect of the church was desirous 
of bidding a solemn farewell to the holy body, which 
he and his colleagues had regarded as a dear and pre- 
cious treasure, and the loss of v/hich they tenderly de- 
plored. His whole voice and manner, as he pronounced 
in substance the following words, evinced an emotion 
so profound that all present were much affected: ^Bene- 
dict a sit Saiicta Trinitas at que Indivisa Unit as ; con- 
fitehimur M, quia fecit nohiscum misericordiam SuamP 
he exclaimed, as he turned towards the coffin of her 
who had been so ardent an adorer of the Blessed 
Trinity. ' The affection,' he continued, ^ which thou 
didst manifest, while living, towards the secular clergy 
gives us the hope that thou wilt aid them in Heaven. 
We are about to lose thy mortal remains, but we shall 
assuredly not be deprived of thy protection. Eemem- 
ber, then, this poor church, which for ten years has 
guarded thy remains with so much care. Pray for the 
worthy ecclesiastics qui mecum lahorant in ministerio. 
Obtain for them and me an increase of zeal, that in all 
things we may act for the glory of God and the salva- 
tion of souls. Obedience was thy characteristic virtue, 
and it is precisely the obedience which we owe to him 
who has authority to command us which constrains us 
to part with thee. When it shall have pleased God to 
raise thee to the honours of the altar, perhaps none of 
us will be able to add to thy glory on earth, but wo 



380 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

pray thee to obtain for iis that Tve may be the com- 
panions of that glory in Heaven.' The coffin being 
then laid on the mortuary car, it was followed by the 
persons already mentioned, and conveyed to San Cri- 
sogono in Trastevere, where the Very Eeverend Father 
Antonio della Madre di Dio, Minister- General of the 
Trinitarians, and his religious family received it. The 
notary having drawn up the verbal process of the con- 
signment, and the act having been subscribed by the 
Fiscal Promoter, the General of the Trinitarians, the 
parish priest, D. Eaffaele ^N'atali, the two grandsons, 
and other witnesses, it was placed underground at the 
Epistle corner of the High Altar before the chapel of 
the Blessed Sacrament, without the rails, having over 
it a monument, in the form of a sarcophagus, bearing 
this inscription : 'Hie dormit in 2^clcg Venerabilis Sei^va 
Dei^ Anna Maria Taigi, Conjugata Materfamilias, 
Ordinis Excalc, SS. Trinitatis Tertiaria Professa, 
Mortua Romoi ix Junii^ mdcccxxxvii.'"' Although every- 
thing had been executed with great privacy, the good 
people of Trastevere. soon became aware of the treasure 
they had acquired, and, the church was thronged during 
the following day. 

In the year 1868 some alterations being about to 
be effected in the pavement of San Crisogono, permis- 
sion was granted for the temporary removal of the coffin 
containing the body of the servant of God into the Ad- 
joining Sacristy, known as that of the Relics, where it 
was laid at the time of its translation, previously to in- 
terment. Leave was also given to profit by this oppor- 

* ' Here sleeps in peace the Venerable Servant of God, 
Anna Maria Taigi, Married and Mother of a Family, Professed 
Tertiary of the Discalced Order of the Most Holy Trinity, who 
died at Borne the 9th June, 1837.' 



HER INTERMENT AND RE-INTERMENTS. 381 

tunity for a re-examination of the state of tlie body and 
its translation to a new tomb and coffin prepared for it. 
In tbe beginning of August, tbe permission of tbe Holy 
Father having been obtained, Mgr. Minetti, the Pro- 
moter of the Eaith, came accompanied by his Yice-pro- 
moter, their assessors, and the Secretary of the Sacred 
Congregation of Eites, to be present at the extraction 
of the coffin and its removal to the sacristy adjoining. 
There, in presence of the prelates, a physician, surgeon, 
and other witnesses, the body was again exposed to 
view. A white mould covered it like a veil, but, when 
this had been removed, little change was found to have 
taken place, although thirty- one years had elapsed since 
it had been committed to the grave. The face, hands, 
and forearm had become of a bronzed hue, but the 
throat, which had remained covered, had still preserved 
its whiteness ; and, though the skin of the hands was 
dried, they retained their form and nails, as did also 
the feet. The clothes were also in a perfect state of 
preservation. A few days later, four nuns, accompanied 
by the doctors deputed by the commission, came to re- 
clothe the body. One of the daughters of the Venerable 
accompanied them, to behold once more the face and 
form of her holy mother, upon which the decay of the 
tomb had scarce made any inroad. She then withdrew, 
and the nuns, after removing the garment of the servant 
of God, substituted a silken robe which the Princess 
Barberini had made and Pius IX. had blessed. These 
Eeligious deposed that, with the exception of the parts 
of the body which had been uncovered, the whole had 
preserved the natural whiteness of flesh and was per- 
fectly flexible. They found, it is true, a few worms in 
the coffin, but they had as yet respected the uncorruptcd 
. body. In order 'to satisfy the devotion of the faithful, 



382 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

of whom a vast concourse flocked to the church, it re- 
mained for four days exposed under the guardianship 
of the substituted Postulator of the cause, the Trini- 
tarian Eeligious, and eight soldiers. On the 12th of 
August it was placed by the nuns in a coffin of cypress 
wood, which had been made to contain it, and which 
was sealed with the arms of the Promoter of the Faith, 
as was also the outer leaden coffin. The absolution 
being again given, the coffin was enclosed in a new 
sarcophagus, constructed for it, and deposited near the 
Altar of the Most Holy Crucifix, on the Epistle side, 
at very Httle distance from its original situation. On 
the external face of the monument was this inscrip- 
tion : — 

Hie quiescunt exuviae Yen. Servae Dei 

Annas Mariae Taigi 
Matiis-familias et Tertiariae ProfesssB 
Ord. Discalceat. SSmae Trinitatis 
Redemp. Captivor. 
Quae in conjugio fidem 
Inviolate servavit 
Et susceptam prolem j)ie educavit.* 

P. Calixte, writing in 1871, says, 'A letter which 
we have received from Eome, dated 15th August of this 

* * Here repose the remains of the Venerable Servant of God, 

Anna Maria Taigi, 

Mother of a Family, and Professed Tertiary 

Of the Discalced Order of the Most Holy Trinity 

For the Redemption of Captives, 

Who preserved her conjugal faith inviolate, 

And brought up her children piously.' 

The testimony to her conjugal fidelity will here be noticed. The 
expression ' Fidelis conjux' is employed in a longer inscription, 
with the Promoter of the Faith's attestation of all that had 
been done, written on parchment and enclosed in a glass tube, 
which was laid at the feet of the holy body^ within the cypress 
coffin. 



HER INTERMENT AND RE-INTERMENTS. 383 

present year, informs ns that the body of the Venerable 
preserves its flexibility and immunity from all corrup- 
tion.' From this it would appear that the state of the 
body has again been verified ; but, as he gives no par- 
ticulars, we have none to offer, neither can we adduce 
any farther authority for the statement. Her tomb has 
continued to be frequented, not only by the devout 
people of Eome and by persons coming from all parts 
of Italy, but by pilgrims from every land to which the 
fame of her virtues and wonderful gifts has travelled. 
jSTeither are they satisfied with praying at her tomb, 
but, as P. Calixte tells us, they go and visit the houses 
in which she dwelt and converse with the surviving 
members of her family ; ' happy to hear from the lips of 
her daughters, or of the other persons who had known 
her, some details of so beautiful a life ; they examine 
with respect all the objects which had been used by 
her, and joyfully carry away some picture or relic of 
the Venerable.' 

D. Kaffaele ^atali continued to live with this poor 
family, and kept in his room some remnants of Anna 
Maria's clothes and other small articles ; in particular, 
part of the haircloth which she had secretly worn, two 
iron chains, and her disci|)line made of iron wire cord. 
In an apartment frequented by the family was another 
sacred memorial, namely, the identical altar before which 
the servant of God used to pray in the house where she 
lived and died. We subjoin the account given by P. 
Calixte of a visit which he paid, in April of the year 
1869, to her surviving descendants. ' Mgr. Natali,' he 
writes, * now become Pontifical Chaplain and Abbate of 
San Yittorio, &;c., was still living. He dwelt near the 
entrance of the Palazzo Barberini, not far from tlie 
Quattro Eontane. He had with him tlie youngest 



384 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

daughter of tlie Venerable, Maria, then sixty years of age, 
and a granddaughter of Anna Maria, thirty-five years 
old, the same whose eye she had healed. Both seemed 
to be deeply pious. The Tvax bust of Anna Maria, re- 
producing, as we were informed, very faithfully the 
features of her face, does not present under a physical 
point of view anything which is not very ordinary. 
The forehead is narrow and low, the nose is small and 
retroii^sse,, but, on the other hand, those eyes, which 
seem still to read in the mysterious sun, that indescri- 
bable air of suffering mingled with resignation, that 
impress of deep humility, all combine to impart to the 
countenance of onr Venerable an expression of beauty 
altogether heavenly.* Moreover, D. Eaffaele assured 
us that this bust of Anna Maria will suddenly manifest 
a gleam of joy, expressed by a sweet smile, when events 
occur favourable to the triumph of the Church. The 
worthy prelate evinced a sober reserve in giving any 
information as to the secret details of the life of Anna 
Maria, and, above all, as to her prophecies : he was 
bound by the secrecy imposed under the sanction of an 
oath upon all who are occupied at Rome with this 
cause; but at times he would exclaim, in a tone of 
the warmest enthusiasm, •' what beautiful and great 
things will be known at the moment of the beatifica- 
tion !" ' P. Calixte also visited with lively emotion the . 
little room which Anna Maria occupied in the closing 

* When we remember that the cast was taken after death, 
that Anna Maria was approaching the age of seventy, and was 
worn down with iUness, sufterings, and austerities, we need 
scarcely be surprised that the reputation of beauty which she 
enjoyed in youth should not be borne out by her bust. Great 
beauty is quite compatible with features somewhat irregular, 
and time plays sad havoc even with the general outline of 
the faii-est faces. 



HER INTERMENT AND RE-INTERMENTS. 38 

days of her life. He describes it as having rather the 
form of a passage, its length being more than three 
times its width. The apartment was a dependence of 
the Palazzo Eichetti on the Corso, facing the Church 
of Santa Maria in Via Lata. 

The Univers of 15th March, 1871, contained the 
following paragraph in its Koman correspondence : — 
' Don Eaffaele Natali has just expired, surrounded by 
the family of Anna Maria, amidst whom he had lived 
for many years. He was past ninety, and seemed to 
have preserved his faculties only to speak of the Ve- 
nerable, whose confidant he had been. The monks of 
St. Bernard assisted him during the last weeks of his 
life. Although this holy priest had begged to be buried 
near Anna Maria at San Crisogono, where he had pre- 
pared his place of sepulchre, the Italian law must per- 
force be obeyed, which required that all interments 
should take place without the city in the Cemetery 
of San Lorenzo. This brutal, levelling law respects 
nothing, and the Eeligious of every Order, as well as 
cloistered nuns, must be buried at San Lorenzo.' When 
this was written, the sacrilegious usurper had not as yet 
proceeded so far as to expel the consecrated servants of 
God, while living, from their churches and sacred pre- 
mises. D. Eaffaele, then, lies for the present in the 
ground where once his beloved and venerated friend so 
long rested, awaiting the time when that triumph which 
she predicted, and which he surely expected, as do all 
the faithful children of Holy Charch, shall render pos- 
sible the execution of his last wishes, and his removal 
to San Crisogono, there to be laid near to the holy re- 
mains of her whom he loved so well on eartli, and 
whose glory we trust he already shares in Heaven. 



oc 



386 



CHAPTEE XXIII 

MIRACLES ATTESTING THE SANCTITY OF THE SERVANT 

OF GOD. 

All that now remains for us is to notice a few ont 
of the many miracles and favours accorded to persons 
who have sought the intercession of Anna Maria Taigi. 
In so doing we need scarcely say that we do not pre- 
sume to forestal the judgment of the Holy See, to 
which alone it appertains to pronounce a decision, as 
upon the 'sdrtues, so also upon the gifts and superna- 
tural works of the servants of God. Those mii'aculous 
cases which we shall mention have been extracted 
either from the juridical processes or from letters of 
undoubted authenticity, written by persons whose ve- 
racity can be thoroughly trusted. Every instance of 
miraculous intervention must be interesting to the true 
Catholic, not because it furnishes food for curiosity and 
excites to wonder — indeed admiration, not wonder, is 
the sentiment which such manifestations of diyine 
power raise in his bosom — ^but because it speaks to 
him of his God, of the in^dsible Euler and Controller 
of nature and of natural events, and of the honour He 
confers upon His servants. ^Nevertheless, as a long 
array of miraculous cures is apt to prove wearisome 
from the very similarity of the facts, we shall content 
ourselves with a few examples which will suffice for 
our purpose. 

Anna ^Maria's protection was early displayed in the 
case of her own family, whom she left in a state of 
such great poverty and whom, when dying, she had 
recommended to the care of the priest who had shared 
their humble dwelliug for so many years ; promising 



MIRACLES ATTESTING HER SANCTITY. 387 

that in Heaven, to which she hoped through the merits 
of Jesus Christ to be admitted, she would aid them by 
her prayers. It seems surprising that they should have 
been suffered to remain in want. Devout persons, 
rich as well as poor, were continually flocking to her 
tomb in the Cemetery of San Lorenzo ; how came it, 
then, that it should not have occurred to many that it 
would be fitting to testify their love and respect for 
this holy woman by inquiring into the circumstances of 
those whom she had left behind^ Yet so it was to be; 
and, indeed, it was chiefly owing to their own absten- 
tion, as well as that of D. Eaffaele, from making an 
appeal to the charity of those who had known and 
honoured the departed. In such cases the needs of 
sufferers from poverty are not seldom forgotten or over- 
looked. Besides, the cholera was raging in Eome, and 
people's minds were engrossed with the subject; and 
God doubtless overruled this and other circumstances 
to bring about His purpose of securing to the children 
of His servant their inheritance of poverty. But, 
whatever may have been the cause of this great indi- 
gence, which seems to have lasted for some consider- 
able period, it happened on one occasion that the priest 
found himself at the end of his resources, small as those 
were at all times. Starvation seemed to be staring him 
and his adopted family in the face, when, in their ex- 
treme distress, he called upon Anna Maria, reminding 
her of her promise. Shortly after, he one day lieard a 
knock at the door, and, on going to open it, he found 
a roll of paper deposited on the threshold. It contained 
a considerable sum in gold pieces. The unknown be- 
nefactor had disappeared ; nor was it till long after 
that he ascertained the friendly hand which had sup- 
plied this opportune relief. It came from a Milanese 



388 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

gentleman, who said that he had felt himself strongly- 
moved to send this sum of money to the family of 
Anna Maria. D. Raffaele also attested that this was 
by no means a solitary instance, for that he was fre- 
quently the subject of like favours; and that without 
their help he never would have been able to maintain 
the family dependent upon him. 

Persons who interested themselves in her cause 
also received proofs of her kindness, while others were 
led to assist in its promotion in consequence of recovery 
from sickness or being favoured with spiritual graces 
through her means. A chaplain in Charles Albert's 
army, having to undergo a severe operation on his eyes, 
recommended himself to the protection of Anna Maria, 
and not only was it successfully performed, but he did 
not suffer the slightest pain. To testify his gratitude, he 
sent some money to aid in the prosecution of her cause. 
A Piedmontese lady, who declared she had received a 
special grace from Anna Maria, also contributed for the 
same object. Mgr. Luquet himself was indebted to her 
for the reception of some great favour ; he had already 
shown himself exceedingly liberal in the promotion of 
her cause, but on this occasion he added a farther sum . 
A friend of his also contributed, promising that he 
would give more in the event of his obtaining a much- 
desired boon. He obtained it, and fulfilled his engage- 
ment. A French lady (Madame de Lestainville) is 
likewise mentioned as having presented a hundred 
golden crowns to further the cause of her beatification, 
in gratitude for a signal favour which she said she 
owed to her intervention. 

Many cures were obtained either by simple recourse 
to her intercession, or as accompanied with the applica- 
tion of her picture or a shred of her garment to the af- 



MIRACLES ATTESTING HER SANCTITY. 389 

fected part or with an invocation of tlie Blessed Trinity, 
for whom her devotion had been so striking. The Min- 
ister General of the Capuchins, while Prefect of the Col- 
lege of Missions, was seized in September, 1849, with 
a violent inflammatory attack. In a few days he was 
reduced to the last extremity, the medical attendant 
had given up all hopes of his patient's life, and the 
patient had similarly given, up all trust in his doctor's 
skill, and had turned his thoughts wholly to prepara- 
tion for death. He had received the last sacraments, 
when one of his friends gave him a particle of the hair- 
cloth which. Anna Maria had worn, exhorting him to 
recommend himself to her intercession. The good Ee- 
ligious, although well disposed to die, felt moved to act 
according to his friend's advice, and so, animating his 
faith, he addressed Anna Maria in these terms : — ' Ser- 
vant of God, if all that is said of you is true, and if you 
have really power to move the goodness of God, obtain 
for me the grace of health, provided this be according 
to His good pleasure.* From the moment he gave 
utterance to this appeal improvement set in ; he was 
soon perfectly restored, and able to resume his fatiguing 
labours; continuing always to be convinced that he 
owed his marvellous recovery to the intervention of 
Anna Maria. Teresa Bresciani, a young woman of 
twenty-four, had been suffering for six years from a dis- 
ease in her eyes, which caused the sharpest pain. All 
medical prescriptions had entirely failed to afford relief. 
She turned her hopes now exclusively to Heaven; and, 
having heard of many signal graces accorded through 
the intercession of Anna Maria Taigi, she began a 
tricluo in honour of the Blessed Trinity for the gifts so 
liberally bestowed on this beloved servant of God. 
Scarcely had she concluded it when she experienced a 



390 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

complete cure without the help of either doctors or 
medicine. 

Several very remarkable cures are related as having 
taken place in the island of Malta. One of them is 
thus recorded in a letter from Mgr. the Canonico Fal- 
son to the Postulator of the cause : — ' I profit by the 
present opportunity to give you a very consoling piece 
of news. A most wonderful miracle has taken place 
recently, through the mediation of Anna Maria Taigi, 
in favour of a young Maltese girl named Giuseppa 
Muscat, of this city of Valletta, who was lame of one 
of her legs, so that she could not walk. The most 
skilful physicians had been consulted, but all the various 
medicaments of the healing art produced no beneficial 
effect ; on the contrary, the malady became more serious, 
so that the doctors, who had tried every possible re- 
medy, declared the complaint to be quite incurable. 
The sufferer and her family having thus lost all earthly 
hope of cure, the ghi, who had heard that I had in my 
possession some pictures and relics of the Servant of 
God, Anna Maria Taigi, immediately asked me for one, 
and with lively faith had recourse to her, in a triduo of 
prayers, to obtain the desired boon. On the thhd day 
she redoubled her supplications, and a little while be- 
fore the close of the triduo^ precisely at noon, she felt 
a great movement throughout her whole frame, and in- 
stantly, without the use of any remedy, she found her- 
self perfectly free from the grievous and incurable 
malady from which she had suffered for years, to the 
astonishment of her whole family, and of the doctor 
himself, who had given up the case and left her, but 
who hastened to the house in order to verify the fact. 
And the fact is more than certain, although the physi- 
cian, a man of advanced age, much experience, and 



MIRACLES ATTESTING HER SANCTITY. 391 

high reputation, before pronouncing his formal opinion, 
prudently resolved to wait a while that he might see if 
the marvellous cure, which took place on the 17th of 
the past month, should prove lasting. The fame of 
what had occurred having spread abroad, the whole city 
was moved, and I found myself pestered on all sides by 
applications for pictures and printed accounts of this 
Venerable Servant of God. I beg you, therefore, to 
send me a good store of these pictures, that I may 
satisfy, at least in part, the devotion of this people to- 
wards the said servant of God.* This miracle occurred 
in 1855, and subsequent letters testified to the perma- 
nence of the cure. A process was drawn up in conse- 
quence, and forwarded to the Prefect of the Sacred 
'Congregation of Eites. We pass over several other 
cures in the same island. 

In Albano a cure of a boy of sixteen, who was 
hopelessly afflicted with a spinal complaint, and whose 
body was covered with ulcers, is recorded. His mother, 
Anna Maria Guglielmi, full of trust in the intercession 
of the servant of God, her name-sake, made the youth 
swallow in water some threads from a gown which she 
had worn, and gave him one of her pictures to lay on 
his head, on liis breast, and on his wounds. Imme- 
diately his recovery commenced. The wounds closed, 
and he was very shortly restored to perfect health. 

Maria Agostina Zabaini, Prioress of the Santissima 
Annunziata in Eome, who was afflicted with a cancer in 
the stomach, was delivered from that terrible disease, 
which Anna Maria had so often healed when on earth, 
by the same means, the application of her portrait. 
This cure took place in the year 1859, and her con- 
fessor, Ex-General of the Capuchins, afterwards Arch- 
bishop and Visitor Apostolic Extraordinary in the In- 



392 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

dies, attested in 1860 that tbe Eeligious continued in 
sound health. In Eome a child, ten years of age, 
named Alfonso Lazzaroni, lying dangerously ill, rallied 
in the course of a few moments through the intercession 
of the servant of God, and was soon perfectly restored. 

It seems unnecessary to multiply instances. Enough 
has heen said to show that God has not failed to honour 
His servant with abundant testimonies to the power of 
her intercession in Heaven, a power which we have seen 
to be so great even while she yet abode on earth. It 
remains for the authority which alone is competent to 
deliver judgment in these matters to add the seal of its 
infallible sanction. May this time speedily arrive, and 
may it be accorded to our present Holy Father to pro- 
nounce the sentence which shall raise the holy matron 
of Eome to the honours of our altars. Anna Maria, 
constrained by obedience, which, as Cardinal Pedicini 
averred, in her floated above all the other virtues, as 
oil on water, and bound thereby to make known all her 
revelations to the ecclesiastic who was appointed by her 
confessor to receive them, declared that the Lord one 
day said to her that He willed to make her known to 
the whole world as an example of penance and a model 
of married women. In concluding her life, therefore, 
we have the consolation at least of feeling that, how- 
ever inadequately our task has been accomplished, we 
have been endeavouring, to the best of our ability, to 
help forward a work which is agreeable to the designs 
of Providence, and may therefore humbly hope for the 
Divine blessing upon our labours, and that they may 
serve to set forth the example and spread the fame of 
the Venerable Servant of God in our own land. 

We must add that we have had a further object in 
view. Anna Maria, while a pattern of the exercise of 



MIRACLES ATTESTING HER SANCTITY. 393 

every humble virtue in tlie world and in the married 
state, as well as a glorious example of penance, was 
also the recipient of the most sublime gifts and the de- 
positary of the most awful secrets. These last are as 
yet but imperfectly known ; yet enough has transpired 
to lead to very serious reflections, living as we do in 
such critical times and beholding the persecution of the 
Church, which she foretold, raging almost in every 
land. We cannot but call to mind that she also predicted 
tremendous and unparalleled chastisements ; nor can 
we suppose that she was prompted thus to speak with- 
out a purpose, or that her words ought to be wasted 
on us any more than her example. True, the Holy 
See has not as yet passed any judgment on her spirit of 
prophecy, but her possession of this gift rests on such 
strong evidence, evidence worthy of such high respect, 
that we cannot in prudence disregard it. The world is 
looking on in breathless expectation of the next turn 
of events in these disordered and perilous times, but it 
casts no glance towards Heaven — nay, it would scoff at 
the idea of all things not continuing as they have been 
since the beginning. We, the children of the Church, 
and therefore of the light, will do well to be wiser, and 
to be so prepared that nothing may take us by surprise 
or shake our hope and confidence. Whatever may 
happen, the Lord is with us, and after judgment will 
follow triumph. 

' Our God is our refuge and strength, a Helper in 
troubles which have found us exceedingly. Therefore 
will we not fear when the earth shall be troubled, 
and the mountains shall be removed into the heart 
of the sea. Their waters roared and were troubled, 
the mountains were troubled with His strengtli. The 
stream of the river maketh the City of God joyful : 



394 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGL 

the Most High hath sanctified His own tabernacle. 
God is in the midst thereof, it shall not be removed : 
God will help it in the morning early. I^ations were 
troubled, and kingdoms were bowed down : He uttered 
His voice, the earth trembled. The Lord of Armies is 
with us j the God of Jacob is our protector. Come and 
behold ye the works of the Lord : what wonders He 
hath done upon earth, making wars to cease even to the 
end of the earth. He shall destroy the bow and break 
the weapons, and the shield He shall bum in the ^e. 
Be still, and see that I am God. I will be exalted 
among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth. 
The Lord of Armies is with us : the God of Jacob is 
our protector' (Psalm xlv.). 



APPENDIX. 



APPENDIX. 



FKAGMENTS OF ANNA MARIA TAIGl S PREDICTIONS. HER PRO- 
PHECIES COMPARED WITH THOSE OF OTHER GIFTED SOULS. 

We have not included in the Life of the Venerable Anna 
Maria Taigi any prophecies regarding future events ex- 
cept such as can be attributed to her on unquestionable 
authority. The authority on which we rehed has been 
mainly that of I). Raffaele Natali, who not only was cog- 
nisant of all her predictions, but had the best opportunities 
of understanding them. He was however extremely re- 
served in his disclosures. As time has gone on further 
portions of her prophecies have transpired, but, as they 
cannot be so surely traced to their source, we have 
omitted them in the text. This omission we will here 
supx)ly, premising that we give them under all reserve. 

The following fragments were collected by P. Calixte, 
and he says that he had them from the lips of persons 
worthy of credit. 

When the judgment she announced shall overtake the 
wicked, the dead bodies round Rome will be as numerous 
as the fish which a (then) recent inundation of the Tiber 
had carried into that city. All the enemies of the Church, 
secret as well as known, will perish during the darkness, 
with the exception of some whom God shall soon after 
convert. The air shall be infected by demons, who will 
appear under all sorts of hideous forms. Blessed candles 
will preserve from death, as well as prayers to the Blessed 
Virgin and the lioly angels. After the darkness, St. Peter 



398 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI 

and St. Paul shall descend to preach throughout the earth. 
A great light emanating from them shall rest upon him 
whom God has chosen for the future Pope (the Lumen in 
Ccelo of St. Malachi's well-known prophecy) . St. Michael, 
appearing on earth, shall chain up Satan until the times 
of the preaching of Antichrist. Religion will everywhere 
extend its empire. Hussia will be converted, as will also 
England and China ; and all nations will rejoice in con- 
templating this splendid triumph of the Church. Then 
will be accomplished the prophecy of our Lord : * There 
shall be one fold and one shepherd.' After this, the Santa 
Casa of Loreto will be transported by angels to Ptome 
into the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. P. Calixte 
observes that the Blessed Joseph Labre had made a similar 
prediction, and had also said that it would be transferred 
before the end of the world to France. 

P. Cahxte has something of his own to add to these 
various current reports. ' A pious prelate,' he says, * a 
Cameriere Segreto of his Holiness, assured him that Anna 
Maria foretold the definition of the Immaculate Concep- 
tion, the holding of the Vatican Council, and the proclam- 
ation of Pontifical Infallibility, in spite of the long and 
insidious opposition of the principal Catholic states. He 
also said that she announced the sanguinary struggle 
which has taken place between Prussia and France, and 
the humiliation and enfeeblement of the latter because she 
had forgotten her obhgations as eldest daughter of the 
Church. To the horrors of foreign and civil war were to 
succeed sanguinary conflicts with the revolutionary fac- 
tion; and this state of desolation was to last until the 
people of France should cast themselves at the feet of the 
Sovereign Pontiff, conjuring him to put an end thereto 
by an act of his supreme authority. The Pope would then 
send a legate into France to inquire into the state of things, 
and, on the report made to him, would name a Christian 
king to occupy its throne.' 

To these fragments of reported prophecies we may sub- 
join a contribution from the Abbe Curicque, who, in his 
Voix ProphetiqueSy vol. ii. p. 155, says, ' On Monday, the 



HER PREDICTIONS COMPARED WITH OTHERS. 399 

7th of February, we had gone to assist in the Basilica 
of San Crisogono, in Trastevere, at the first Vespers of the 
Feast of St. John of Matha, whose Rehgious serve that 
sanctuary. We had then the happiness of praying for a 
long time at the glorious tomb of Anna Maria. A little 
before the office began, we went into the sacristy, where 
we saw the Postulator of the cause of the Venerable, and 
we obtained from that Father both some relics of Anna 
Maria and some interesting details as to the state of pre- 
servation of her mortal remains. We questioned him also 
as to the future. The Postulator replied that the Venerable 
Servant of God had foretold that Pius IX. would re-enter 
at the close of his reign on the integral possession of the 
patrimony of St. Peter ; and, moreover, those amongst his 
enemies who were the fiercest opponents of his temporal 
power would not remain alive to witness this glorious 
triumph. 

There is a general convergence, so to say, and striking 
resemblance in the scope of all modern prophecies, which 
confer no little importance upon them, taken as a whole, 
in the eyes of those who, according to St. Peter's counsel, 
are ' looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of 
the Lord.'* But any attempt to illustrate this point would 
be quite beyond our present object, which is simply to 
compare Anna Maria's prophecy of impending judgment, 
and its results with analogous predictions of certain other 
souls who were favoured with like revelations. Two wo- 
men of eminent hoHness and supernatural gifts in our days 
have made announcements similar to those of Anna Maria, 
one of whom was her contemporary, a married woman, 
and also a Tertiary of the Trinitarians, Elisabetta Canori 
Mora. In the year 1820, she saw in vision an awful 
judgment fall upon the world, which in all its particulars 
exhibits a marked coincidence with the prophecy on the 
same subject attributed to Anna Maria. She first beheld 
the heavens opened, and the Prince of the Apostles de- 
scend, surrounded with glory and with a number of celestial 
spirits singing canticles. He M^as arrayed in Pontifical 
* 2 Peter iii. 12. 



400 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI 

garments, and held in his hand a pastoral staff, with which 
he traced an immense cross over the earth, the angels 
meanwhile singing, * Constitues eos princijrjes super omnem 
terrain — Thou shaltmake them princes over all the earth.'"^' 
She then beheld the faithful gathered, under the image of 
a flock of sheep, beneath four sheltering trees, which a 
touch of the Apostle's crozier caused to spring out of the 
earth at the four extremities of the cross. ' Then,' she 
said, * I understood in my inmost heart that St. Peter had 
caused these trees to spring up to serve as a place of refuge 
for the faithful fiiends of Jesus Christ, and to preseiwe 
them fi'om the terrible chastisement which was to over- 
whelm the eartli.' We are reminded of the angel in the 
Apocalypsef who is bidden not to hurt the earth until the 
servants of God have been sealed in their foreheads, and 
of the mysterious Thau spoken of by EzechieLI After this 
symbolical vision, in which the flock of Chiist was con- 
signed, imder the figure of docile sheep, to the protection 
of the chief pastor, he returned to Heaven, and then 
quickly followed the judgment. Thick clouds veiled the 
firmament, and a terrible wind, like to the roaring of a 
fuiious lion, arose, sweeping the whole earth, and striking 
ten'or into man and beast. Men at that crisis she de- 
sciibed as in the height of revolution and engaged in mas- 
sacring each other pitilessly. To the vengeance they 
were thus mutually exercising on each other was now to 
be joined that which the powers of Hell were commissioned 
by God to inflict. She beheld legions of demons assuming 
the form of men and beasts, and ranging the whole world, 
to execute the decrees of Gods justice on the wicked — on 
theii- possessions, on the fruits of the earth, on towns, on 
villages ; ' nothing,' she said, ' will be spared.' In short, 
they will fill the earth with ruins, specially devastating 
those places where God has been outraged and blasphemed, 
and where sacrileges have been perpetrated. Meanwhile 
the faithful, under the protection of the holy Apostles, 
shall remain uninjured both in person and in property. 
After the judgment, she again beheld the heavens brighten, 

* Psalin xliv. 17. f vii. 3. J ix. 4. 



HER PREDICTIONS COMPARED WITH OTHERS. 401 

and the cliief of the Apostles descend, accompanied by 
angels singing hymns to his honour, and acknowledging 
him as the prince of the earth. Then she saw St. Paul 
come down from Heaven, commissioned by God to traverse 
the earth and chain up the demons. She beheld him 
drag them before the Prince of the Apostles, who con- 
signed them again to the Hell from which they had been 
loosed. After this follow particulars precisely similar to 
those already given, as contained in Anna Maria's pro- 
phecy of the miraculous election of the holy Pontiff, the 
* Lumen in Ccelo,' and the reconcihation of earth with 
heaven. 

In regard to this prediction we will make one observa- 
tion, which is susceptible of wider application. Clearly 
the opening of this vision is figurative. The seer herself 
did not believe that St. Peter Hterally planted four large 
trees, under which the faithful gathered in the guise of 
sheep. This leads us to ask how much of the remaining 
portion is also to be taken as symbolical, and how much 
must be understood literally. That a great judgment of 
some kind is described, in which HeU will take a per- 
missive part, and a singular protection be afforded to the 
faithful, there can be no question. But are the subsequent 
apparitions of St. Peter and St. Paul, their preacliing to 
the world and the chaining of Satan, events which the 
bodily eyes will discern ? Or, if the eyes of some may be 
opened to behold them, as were the eyes of the servant of 
the prophet to see the hosts of the Lord fighting for Israel 
(4 Kings vi. 17), or as those of Attila, the Scourge of God, 
when he was about to march with his Huns to the destruc- 
tion of Rome, and the Vicar of Christ went forth to meet 
him, were opened to see the Apostles St. Peter and St. 
Paul menacing him in the air, will the vision be patent to 
all? This point it seems impossible to decide. It will be 
^evident that what we have here suggested apphes to the 
parallel announcements of Anna Maria Taigi, thougli we 
have given our reasons for inclining to the opinion that 
the threatened judgment of the three days' darkness is to 
;< be Hterally, not figuratively, understood. 

DD 



402 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

The other holy person who has made similar predic- 
tions is a Neapolitan ^^idow still living and now about 
forty-eight years of age, Palma-Maria-Addolorata Mata- 
relli, a native of Oria in the Terra di Lavoro. She en- 
joys a great reputation for sanctity, has received the stig- 
mata, and on every Friday has a participation of the 
agonies of the Passion, including the Sweat of Blood. She 
is also said to possess the gift of bilocation. Of future 
events she speaks as confidently as others do of what is 
passing before their eyes ; but on this subject much re- 
serve is practised by her directors — a reserve in every way 
the more imperative because the subject of these pheno- 
mena is still living; and in such cases it is well known 
what jealous caution the Church prescribes, from the 
danger of possible illusion. She is greatly revered by 
the people of Naples, a circumstance naturally irritating 
to Victor Emmanuel's Government. She was accordingly 
subjected to a severe inquiry by the civil authorities on 
the 8th of December, 1865, which in that year fell on a 
Friday, as also to a medical examination ; the result being 
a more complete establishment of the supernatural facts 
exhibited in her person. Fragments of her prophecies 
have been divulged. She is reported to have spoken of 
repubhcs being set up in France, in Spain, in Italy ; of 
the civil war which was to burst forth afterwards in these 
countries, simultaneously with other chastisements, such 
as plague and famine; of the massacre of priests and of 
some dignitaries of the Church ; of the trials through 
which the City of Peter would have to pass and the suffer- 
ings it would endure from the fury of the wicked ; of the 
extermination of the latter ; the destruction of Paris ; of 
the dense darkness and infection of the air by devils, and 
the use of blessed candles as a means of preservation ; of 
supernatural portents which should appear in the heavens; 
and of a dreadful war which, however, would be of short 
duration and would be followed by the peace of the world 
and the triumph of the Church, of which Pius IX. was to 
see the commencement.''' 

* The prophecy respecting the three republics and the per 



HER PREDICTIONS COMPARED WITH OTHERS. 403 

For the authenticity of all the prophecies reported to 
have been uttered by this holy woman we could not vouch. 
The following, however, has the sanction of a respected 
name. We extract it from a letter which the author'-' of 
the Derniers Avis Prophetiqiies received from a ' venerable 
friend,' and which he gives at greater length than is needful 
for our purpose. It is dated June 20th, 1872. 

* You know by reputation the Abbe de Brandt :f he has 
arrived from Frohsdorf, from Oria, from Naples, from Rome,, 
and fi'om La Salette. He saw Henri Y. for three hours, 
Pius IX. for two hours at least, Melanie for half a day, 
and the holy widow Palma (the Estatica of Oria) twice, 
and for more than an hour each time.' Passing by what 
concerns France and the visit of the Abbe to the Comte de 
Chambord, we proceed to what the letter relates concern- 
ing his interviews with Palma. ' From Frohsdorf, M. de 
Brandt repaired to Oria. Thanks to letters of recommen- 
dation which he had procured from a Cardinal, he was able 
to see the Signora Palma. For more than seven years 
this stigmatized woman has taken no material nourish- 
ment. J Three times a day, our Lord communicates Him- 
self to her visibly under the form of an ordinary host, and 
M. de Brandt saw one of these marvellous communions 
with his own eyes. She also communicates every morning 
from the hand of a priest. Here are some particulars oi 
the conversation — which this time are most authentic — of 
tliis extraordinary woman ; for the respected and worthy 



Becution of the Church appeared in the Osservatore Romano as 
early as the year 1863. See Les Stigmatisees^ par Le Docteur 
A. Imbert-Gourbeyre, Professeur a rEcole de Medeciae de Cler- 
mont-Ferrand. 1873. 

* Victor C. De Stenay. His book was published in August, 
1872. 

t The Abbe de Brandt seems to have been the bearer of a 
number of letters from the lepfitimist deputies to the Comte de 
Chambord at Frohsdorf, in order to secure their safe dehvery. 

J Palma never eats ; her sole sustenance being the Blessed 
Eucharist. She drinks, however, a considerable quantity of 
water at intervals of about a couple of days. 



e 



404 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

M. de Brandt, -^'ho has related them to me, is no liar. 
First, the seer said to him that she knew that he had had 
some difficulties with his bishop in respect to the direction 
of souls, but that he had always been in the right way, 
and that he was to continue in it. She afterwards said to 
him, " There will be dreadful massacres of priests and re 
ligious in Spain, in France, in Italy, and especially in 
Calabria ; tliis Tsill be soon ; we are on the eve of these 
things ; then, suddenly lighting up, she spoke of the happi- 
ness of martyi'dom in accents of ineffable joy. M. de 
Brandt had laid it down to himself as a rule not to ask 
her any question out of pure curiosity, but he thought he 
might ventiu'e to inquire if these massacres would take 
place on the 15th July, as the Univers''^ had made her say. 
*' I said that ! " she rejoined ; " I know nothing about it. I 
retain no recollection of what I may have said when in 
ecstasy. I know the time, but I may not willingly reveal 
it. There will be three days' darkness ; not a single devil 
wiU remain in hell : all will come out, either to urge on 
the executioners or to discourage the just. It wiR be 
terrible I it will be terrible ! But a gi'eat Cross will ap- 
pear ; and the triumph of the Chui'ch will soon cause aU 
miseries to be forgotten.'" 

These last words recall to mind what P. Bernardo Clausi 
said to the nun, his penitent, when speaking of the judg- 
ment which she was to live to witness, and of the subse- 
quent joy which should obhterate aU memory of sorrow. 

It does not enter into our subject to dwell further on 
the marvels connected with this extraordinary woman ; 
we T^ill therefore refer the reader for a circumstantial ac- 
count of her state to the 2d volume of Les Stigmatisees by 
Dr. A. Imbert-Gourbeyre. Although the supernatural facts 
manifested in her j)erson are his main topic, he also makes 
allusion to her prophecies. "SYe may safely add what 

* The Univers, in a subsequent issue, rectified the eiTor into 
which it had fallen through some inaccuracy of its Roman 
correspondent. Palma had assigned no date. The reported 
prophecies passing from mouth to mouth got embellished and 
altered. 



HER PREDICTIONS COMPARED WITH OTHERS. 405 

he heard from her own lips, on the 25th October, 1871. 
* I questioned Pahna,' he says, ' concerning Henri V. " I 
hope he will come back," she said, *' but it will not be yet, 
not yet" — making as she spoke a significant gesture with 
her arm, as if to put back the time, and added, "Paris must 
be purified." "And the Pope," I asked; "what of him?" 
" I experience," said the seer, " many alternations concern- 
ing him. I know not whether he will be obhged to quit 
Rome. I always behold over Rome the Immaculate Con- 
ception protecting the Holy Father. The Blessed Vir- 
gin," she added, smiling, " owes it, indeed, to the Pope, were 
it only from courtesy and gratitude." Such,' says Dr. 
Imbert-Gourbeyre, * are the prophecies which I heard from 
Palma's Hps. I know from others that she has often spoken 
of the woes which will overwhelm France. At the time of 
the Prussian w^ar she was heard to say several times that this 
was nothing to what was in store for us later. A lady/ 
he adds, 'who has seen Palma since my journey to Oria, 
wrote to me last June (1872) that she still announces great 
woes, but also the triumph of religion. " The blood of the 
priests," she said, "will flow like a stream."' 

Sister Rosa Colomba, a nun of the Convent of Santa 
Caterina of Taggia, near Nice, who died, in 1847, after a 
holy life almost entirely spent in the cloister, uttered pre- 
dictions very similar to those we have recorded. She seemed 
to have had a permanent possession of the spirit of ]Dro- 
phec}^ but she knew so well how to veil her great gifts, as 
well as her eminent virtues, under a simplicity almost child- 
like, that her companions gave very little heed to what she 
said beyond occasionally laughing at some of her utter- 
ances ; as wl\en she would exclaim, ' Poor Louis Pliilippe ! 
you will one day fl}^ from France, and will go and die an 
exile in England.' It was only when events began to justify 
what their ]ioly sister had said, that the}^ took note of all 
that they remembered her to have foretold; and an au- 
thentic record was drawn up, which has been kept in the 
archives of the diocese. She predicted the chief circum- 
stances of Charles Albert's reign, and described that of liis 
successor as ' iin regno dl fanciuUl — a rcigu of babies,* 



406 V. ANNA MAKIA TAIGI. 

which would end in his dethronement. Wlien she spoke 
of the ' friend' of this new king by name as Napoleon, the 
Eeligious used to be greatly amused, and would ask her if 
. the exile of St. Helena was to retui-n to life. She announced 
a great persecution which, after Napoleon's fall, was to 
burst forth against the Church, and which was to be the 
work of some of her o-v^ti children. In the visions which 
she had of those times she saw Russian and Prussian armies 
invading Italy and the former stabHng their horses in the 
new Convent of Taggia. For tliis reason she never would 
give her vote for its being built, and said that never would 
she hear Mass in the church which should thus be dese- 
crated. And, in fact, she died six days before its consecra- 
tion. In describing the Revolution, she spoke particularly 
of the persecution of the Religious Orders, initiated, as 
usual, by an attack upon the Jesuits. Nations were to 
march against nations and exterminate each other with tlie 
most murderous weapons ; the Revolution was to spread 
throughout Europe, where there would be no tranquilhty 
until the White Flower should again ascend the tlirone of 
France. 

The close connection between the peace of France, 
secured by a return to her legitimate government, and this 
grand peace of the world, exceeding any it has yet enjoyed 
and accompanied by the exaltation of the Church, was, as 
we have seen, foretold by Anna Maria Taigi, and has been 
the burden of prophecy, we may say, since the days of St. 
Remigius, when that holy bishop, in anointing Clovis, de- 
clared that France was predestinated by God for the de- 
fence of the Church. Hence she was to enjoy greatness 
and power co-eval with the world's duration; but every 
time that she should fail in the fulfilment of her vocation 
she should meet with terrible punishment. Connected with 
this prophecy is one which can be traced as high as the 
ninth century; that which announces that in the latter 
days shall arise a great and powerful Monarch of that 
illustrious nation, against whom no one would be able to 
stand, for the hand of the Lord should be with him. He was 
to have dominion in East and "West, and subjugate Turks 



HER PREDICTIONS COMPARED WITH OTHERS. 407 

and barbarians to his sway. ' Doctores nostri dicimt,' wrote 
Eabanus Maurus, who was Abbot of Fulda (822), and sub- 
sequently Archbishop of Mayence, ' quod unus ex regibus 
Francorum Romanum Imperium ex integro tenebit, qui 
in novissimo tempore erit, et ipse maximus et omnium re- 
gum ultimus.' In his time there was also to be a great and 
holy Pontiff, mth whom he is ever associated; and so 
strong was this ancient belief, which has never died away, 
that the non-appearance of this great king was iicld by a 
monk, at the close of the ninth century, as proof that the 
world could not be near its end at the commencement of 
the tenth.* It is interesting also to note that St. Fr -icis 
de Sales expressed a hope that Henri IV. might prove to 
be the predicted monarch. An ancient and celebrated pro- 
phecy attributed to St. Cesarius, who flourished in the fifth 
century, and recorded in a book entitled Liher Mirahills, 
printed in 1524, a copy of which exists in what was tlie 
Imperial Library of Paris, after minutely describing the 
horrors of the Revolution and the persecution and desola- 
tion of the Church, proceeds to say that when the whole 
world, and France in particular (Lorraine and Champagne 
being specially mentioned), shall have been a prey to great 
miseries and tribulations, succour will come from a prince 
who shall regain the throne of the hly. This prince will 
extend his dominion everywhere. At the same time there 
will be a great Pope, a man most holy and of consummate 
perfection, who shall have with him this most virtuous 
prince sprung from the blood of the Frankish kings. This 
king will aid him in reforming the world ; and there will 
be one only law, one only faith, one only baptism ; he will 
bring back many from error to the Holy See, and for long 
years peace shall endure, because the anger oi God shall 
be stayed. Examples might be multiplied. 

The same traditionary behef prevails, and has prevailed 
for ages, throughout the East. The Turks in the height of 
their power, and at a time when Asia seemed to menace 

* Liher de Antichristo, attributed to Alcuin, and appended 
to the Oj^era S. Augustini, t. vi. ed. Benedict. See Le Grand 
Pape et le Grand Roi, p. 47. 



408 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 

Europe much more than Europe to menace Asia, had not 
forgotten the ancient prophecies, wliich announced the de- 
struction of the Ottoman Empire hy the Christians. With 
them Cluistians and Franks are one and the same, seeing 
that in the East the French represent Christianity. Now 
these Franks, or French, are to be led by a great king who 
shall subject the whole East to the religion of Christ. A 
prophecy weP known in the East, and attiibuted to St. 
Gregoiy of Armenia, called the Illuminator, says, * A valiant 
natio a shall come : it mil be that of the Franks ; all the 
world will join itself to this nation, and Asia shall be con- 
verted.' ' The East is in expectation,' writes an Oriental 
traveller; * tradition has taught it that a great king of 
France will be at once its conqueror and its liberator. ''^^ So 
lively have ever been these Oriental traditions that the Arabs 
and Turks of Jerusalem have walled up the gate by which 
it is said the Great King of France will enter when he comes 
to vanquish the East. 

The Comte de Maistre, who was gifted with a marvel- 
lous sagacity and penetration, almost resembling a pro- 
phetic instinct, thus expresses himseK in his Soirees de St. 
Petershourg : ' The great event of this century will not be 
a pohtical, but a moral revolution, and it is the French 
nation which is to be the instrimient of this revolution, 
which will be the greatest of revolutions. Many theologians 
and great scholars have believed that facts of the highest 
order and near to their accompHshment are announced in 
the Apocalypse. More than ever, then, should we study 
prophecies; for we must hold ourselves prepared for an 
immense event in the divine order, towards which we are 
hastening with an accelerated speed which must strike all 
observers. Rehgion reigns no longer on earth ; the human 
race cannot remain in this state. There is not perhaps a 
religious man in Europe (I speak of the educated class) 
who at this moment is not in expectation of something 
extraordinary.' How much more cogent do these words 
seem in our time ! 

* E. Boree, Coirespondance et Memoir es d'un Voyageur en 
Orient^ t. ii. p. 80. 



HER PREDICTIONS COMPARED WITH OTHERS. 409 

Saints of old have, as we said, combined with holy per- 
sons in our own days,''^ in foretelling a great judgment that 
should come upon the world, in terms which, while they 
preclude the idea that they are alluding to the end of all 
and the final judgment, nevertheless point to something 
entirely unprecedented in times past, v/liich shall introduce 
the sera of peace and glory to the Church of which we have 
been speaking. The grand and leading ideas of tribula- 
tion, judgment, and renovation seem embodied in the fol- 
lowing words of St. Catherine of Siena, set down from her 
own lips by her director, the Blessed Raymond of Capua, 
and reported in the Life which he afterwards wrote of the 
saint : — ' The evil,' she said, ' of which bad Christians will 
render themselves guilty by persecuting the Holy Church, 
will bring her honour, light, and the perfume of virtues. 
After the tribulation and distresses, God, through a means 
unforeseen by men^ will purify His holy Church, and renew 
the spirit of His elect. Such a reformation of the Church 
of God and such a renovation of holy pastors shall ensue 
that the sole thought of it makes my spirit to exult in the 
Lord. The spouse of Christ is now, as it were, disfigured 
and clothed in rags, but then she shall be resplendent in 
beauty : she will appear adorned with precious jewels and 
crowned with a diadem of all the virtues. All the faithful 
people will rejoice to see her endowed with such holy 
pastors. As for the unbeheving nations, they will be at- 
tracted by the good odour of Jesus Christ; they will return 
to the fold of Catholicity ; they will be converted to the 
true Pastor and Bishop of their souls. Return, then, 
thanksgiving to the Lord, because after the tempest He 
will give to His Church a peace and a joy wliich shall be 
extraordinary.' 

Of this last triumph to be accorded to the Church on 
earth before the days of the final persecution and of the 
appearance of Antichrist St. Hildegarde often si)oke. For 

* We may refer all who feel any interest in tracing this 
catena of evidence to the Voix FropJictiques of the Abbe 
Curicque, and to the little work entitled, Le Grand Pape et le 
Grand Eoiy 6me edition. 



410 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI 

instance, after relating an awful vision which she had be- 
held of a horrible beast attacking a woman who symbolises 
the Church, and, having described his overthrow by the 
vengeance of Heaven, in terms wliich remind us of the 
great judgment which Anna Maria announced, she adds, 
* The people, witnesses of this prodigy, exclaimed, " Alas 1 
alas ! what is this that we see ? Ah ! who can save us ? 
Who will be able to dehver us? How is it possible that 
we have allowed ourselves to be so deceived ? O God most 
powerful, have pity on us! Let us return, let us, then, 
return. Let us hasten to embrace the testament of the 
Gospel of Christ. For, alas ! alas ! we have been deceived." 
And behold,' continues the saint, ' the feet of the image of 
this woman appeared all brilliant with light and resplendent 
as the sun. And I heard a voice from Heaven which said 
to me, *' Although all things on earth approach to their 
doom, so that the world, deprived of all its strength, is de- 
clining to its ruin under the weight of its suffeiings and 
its scourges, nevertheless the spouse of My Son, persecuted 
in her children by tlie precursors of the son of perdition, 
will not be shaken, although she will be violently assailed 
by them. On the contrary, at the end of the ages she will 
come forth stronger and more vigorous than ever, and, ap- 
pealing more beautiful and more glorious, she will present 
herself to her Spouse \^ith greater sweetness and tender- 
ness to receive His caresses." ' 

In tliis mystical language are shadowed forth the even- 
ing glories of the Church militant, which F. Faber, in the 
Preface to his translation of the Venerable Grignon de 
Montfort's treatise on TJie True Devotion to the Blessed 
Virgin, calls ' that great age of the Church which is to be 
the Age of Mary.' This age, heralded by the definition of 
her Immaculate Concei^tion, shall give special glory to her 
by whom God tlie Father gave His Only-Begotten Son to 
the world, that ' rich treasuiy' of God, as Grignon de Mont- 
fort calls her (p. 12), 'in which He has laid up all that 
He has of beauty, of splendour, of rarity and of precious- 
ness, even to His own Son, — Mary whom the Saints have 
named the Treasure of the Lord, out of whose plenitude all 



HER PREDICTIONS COMPARED WITH OTHERS. 411 

are made rich.' These days of triumph may be brief, but 
they will be exceedingly glorious, for they will be as it 
were the earthly coronation of God's most holy Mother. 
* Peace will return to the world,' said Marie Lataste, speak- 
ing of the same glorious time, ^ because Mary shaU breathe 
upon the tempest and calm it ; may her name be praised, 
blessed, and exalted for ever. The prisoners will know that 
they owe their liberty to her ; the exiles, their country; the 
afflicted, their peace; and all, their weKare. Betwixt thee 
and thy protected ones there will be a mutual exchange of 
graces and thanksgivings, of love and attachment, and 
from North to South, from East to West, all wiU proclaim 
Mary — Mary conceived without sin, Mary queen of earth 
and of heaven.' 

Concerning this penultimate age of the Church we find 
some remarkable passages in the Commentary on the Apo- 
calypse by the Venerable Barthelemi Holzhauser, which 
exhibit a striking conformity to the more modern utter- 
ances, and serve to show that the expectation of the * Great 
I Pontiff' and the 'Great Monarch' was equally strong in 
his days as in the present ; and, in fact, as we have said, 
it dates from much farther back. Holzhauser, however, 
did not profess to be delivering predictions himself, but 
simply interpreting those of the Apocalypse. Nevertheless, 
it would seem that he was conscious of- receiving special 
illumination to this end ; for, on breaking off his labours at 
the commencement of the fifteenth chapter, and being ques- 
tioned by his disciples as to his reason for doing so, he re- 
plied that he no longer felt himself enlightened by the same 
spirit. Holzhauser was, we might say, the OHer of Ger- 
many, having dedicated his Hfe to a similar object, the re- 
formation of the secular clergy, and adopted means for that 
end which bear a strong resemblance to those employed by 
the great Founder of St. Sulpice. He died as parish priest 
of Bingen, with the reputation of eminent sanctity, in 1058. 
Amongst his high supernatural gifts must certainly be 
reckoned that of prophecy, which gives a singular autho- 
rity to his Commentary. It is pecuHarly interesting to 
ourselves to know tliat he foretold that the English would 



412 V. ANNA MARIA TATGI 

ultimately return to the bosom of the Church, and would 
contribute to the exaltation and progress of Catholicism 
even far more efficaciously than had their forefathers. He 
also foretold the ravages of Josephism in Germany, the 
sanguinary wars which were to be its chastisement at the 
time of the first Empire, and the career of the illustrious 
Pope Pius VII. He wrote his Commentary on the Apoca- 
lypse in the solitudes of the Tyrol, given up the while to 
meditation, prayer, and fasting. He divides the history of 
the CathoHc Church into seven ages, which he considers 
to be symbolised by the Seven Churches of Asia. The 
first age, which may be styled the period of seed-sowing, 
extended from the time of Jesus Christ and the Apostles to 
that of Nero ; the second age, called that of irrigation, com- 
prehended the time of the ten persecutions until the reign 
of Constantino ; the third age is the illuminative, or that of 
Doctors, and extends from the time of Pope Sylvester and 
Constantino to that of Leo IH. and Charlemagne; the 
fourth age, called pacific, reaches to the time of Leo X. ; 
the fifth age, which is that of affliction, begias with Leo X. 
and the reign of Charles V. It includes what we call 
modem times, and was inaugurated by the heresy of Luther. 
In it Catholics were to be oppressed by heretics and bad 
Christians. Everywhere there were to be deplorable cala- 
mities and terrible wars. Kingdoms were to be convulsed, 
thrones overturned, princes put to death. There were to 
be conspiracies formed for the foundation of repubUcs ; the 
Church and her ministers were to be despoiled. This age 
is to be succeeded by the sixth, that of consolation, which 
the children of the Chm'ch are now expectiag ; it is the 
same of which St. Catherine and St. Hildegarde have spoken 
in such glowing terms ; it is to be of short duration, and to 
terminate with the appearance of Antichrist, which will 
usher in the seventh and last age, the age of desolation, 
embracing the whole period of Antichrist to the end of the 
world. 

The sixth age, that of consolation, was to be the wit- 
ness of a change, the effect of the omnipotent hand of God, 
so marvellous, that no one could have conceived it. There 



HER PREDICTIONS COMPARED WITH OTHERS. 413 

will be a great and holy Pontiff; and a powerful Monarch, 
sent by God, will arise to put an end to disorder. He will 
subject all to his power, and will display an ardent zeal 
for the true Church of Christ, and all heresies will be de- 
stroyed; the Empire of the Turks will be broken; and 
all nations shall come and adore their God in the unity of 
the true Catholic and Koman faith. Love, concord, peace, 
and happiness shall reign amongst men. The whole world 
will be as it were the patrimony of this powerful monarch ; 
for, by the help of the Lord, he shall liberate the earth 
from wicked men and from the evils with which it is 
afflicted. Under his auspices a great Council, the greatest 
of all the Councils, will be brought to a happy conclusion, 
after it has been subjected to much hostility and opposition. 
He will use his power to enforce its decrees. God shall 
bless him, and give aU things into his hands. 

This great Council, foretold also by Anna Maria, had 
already been announced in the clearest terms by Soeur de 
la Nativite, a humble lay-sister in the Ursuline Convent of 
Fougeres, about the year 1792. Her Life and Revelations 
were first given to the world in 1818. After describing the 
poisonous effects of the Hevolution throughout the world, 
she said, * But the assembled Church shall one day con- 
demn and destroy the vicious principle of this wicked con- 
stitution. I see in God a numerous assemblage of ministers 
of the Church, who, strong as an army in battle array and 
like to a firm and immovable pillar, shall sustain the rights 
of the Church and of its head, and re-estabhsh her ancient 
discipline. What a consolation and joy for all the true 
faithfid ! I see in God a great Power, which shall restore 
aU to good order. False worships shall be abolished, all 
the abuses of the Eevolutipn shall be swept away, and re- 
ligion shall return to be more flourishing than ever.* 

We will sum up this subject of modem prophecy in the 
words of the Civiltd Gattolica of May 4th, 1872. They ex- 
press sentiments which we thoroughly adopt. * We protest 
once more that it is not in our mind to put forward as 
authentic any of the prophecies recorded by us. It be- 
longs to the Church to judge of their supernatural origin. 



414 V. ANNA MARIA TAIGI. 



I 



Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the agreement of so 
many and various presages in defining events the expecta- 
tion of which is in the heart of the greater number of Ca- 
tholics possesses a persuasive force and is a kind of seal 
of high probabihty, if not of certainty. This becomes much 
clearer if, with the hght of right reason and pure faith, 
we study the present condition of civil society and of the 
Church. Generally speaking, all intelligent persons, inclu- 
ding even the irreligious, with one voice admit that with- 
out some remedy the nature of which the human mind can- 
not divine, the world cannot go on long as it is at present. 
Either it must be reformed or it will be precipitated into 
an abyss of barbarism. In like manner, wise Christians 
are more than unanimous in admitting that the Church is 
a prey to a diaboHcal and universal persecution hitherto 
unexampled; wherefore God must come to her aid with 
succours proportioned to the need, that is, extraordinary ; 
nor is there any room to doubt that in an opportune time 
He will do so, in virtue of His infallible promise : " Port€B 
inferi non prcBi/alehunt" Hence we find ourselves in this 
extreme case — that the salvation of society, no less than of 
the Church, requires an unaccustomed intervention of om- 
nipotent power. If this be so, how should we not believe 
that come it will?* 



THE END. 



tONDOWS 
fiOBSON Ain> SONS, PRINTERS, PANC^AS BOAD| K«W« 



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